TOWN hall bosses in Chorley are furious at the news that the town stands to lose out on more than £1 million worth of European grants.

Officials in Whitehall have ruled that Chorley is not eligible for money under the "Konver" scheme despite the town winning support from the Government's North West office.

And council leaders are claiming government officials have turned down Chorley because they are biased towards the South East.

Economic development chairman Lindsay Hoyle said: "This whole business stinks.

"We fought hard to get Konver status for Chorley and persuaded the Government of the strength of our case based on defence jobs." Council leader Jack Wilson added: "The facts of the matter are simple.

"The European Commission wants the Konver grant money to be spent in areas badly hit by defence job losses.

"Yet the Government is saying we can only bid for less than a third of the cash.

"If the Government think we are just going to take this lying down, they can think again."

The council is now calling on their MP Den Dover to set up a meeting with the Minister of Environment and talks are also being arranged with the European Commission in Brussels.

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