A CHAIN letter calling on local residents to take Lancaster City Council to task over the Mr Blobby fiasco is circulating round the district. The letter has been penned by Dr John Whitelegg, who has recently campaigned against the Council's decision to allow tallow burning at Nightingale Hall Farm. It calls for the District Auditor to investigate the Council's dealings with the Unique Group which, it claims, "is a source of serious concern to all Lancaster residents."

The letter is rapidly gathering signatures even though Mr Whitelegg originally planned to gather just a small number of Lancaster householders.

Calling on residents to join the chorus of disapproval, Mr Whitelegg says; "With the ending of legal proceedings and the payment of this huge sum to the Unique group the City Council hopes to forget the whole business. There has been no resignations, no dismissals and no analyses of what went wrong so that, at the very least, a repeat performance can be avoided. This is not acceptable where public money and democratic accountability are concerned."

He says the council were guilty of serious errors of judgement and adds: "At the very least this is a clear demonstration of incompetence and a failure to apply basic principles of financial prudence and probity."

In the draft letter which residents have been asked to sign, it states that the £1 million pay out will "have a significant and damaging effect on the ability of the council to deliver its services," and adds: "It is a matter of great concern that the council has exposed itself to this degree of risk with our money and has not exercised the prudence and professional rigour that is required of councillors and officers when dealing with public funds."

A copy of the letter including all the signatures will be sent to the District Auditor in Chorley.

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