BURNLEY MP Peter Pike made a plea for independence for his town last night as Blackburn was cut free of the shackles of Lancashire County Council.

He accepted that Burnley would probably have to join with nearby towns to create a viable all-purpose, single-tier authority.

Mr Pike said he was not going to vote against Blackburn's independence although he believed that the hybrid solution of allowing that town and Blackpool to go it alone and retaining the county for the rest of Lancashire was unsatisfactory.

He spoke out as the House of Commons gave final approval for Blackburn and Blackpool to stand alone and as Environment Secretary John Gummer attacked Lancashire County's campaign to prevent the two towns freedom.

Mr Gummer's Labour Shadow, Frank Dobson, appealed for the county's Labour leaders to now co-operate in the transfer in services and staff to the two new "unitary" authorities. Mr Pike said he did not enthusiastically welcome the new system.

He said: "The hybrid solution for Lancashire is not the best for the right one. I have always believed in unitary local government.

"The legislation is flawed as at the end of the review the whole county will have unitary local government.

"I have been involved in politics and local government in Burnley for well over 30 years. In the old days Burnley was a county borough; it was extremely successful although it was one of the smallest in the country at the time."

He said that with just six county councillors representing Burnley where 80 per cent of the council tax bill went, while just 20 per cent of the business was dealt with at borough level, the existing system is not democratic. Mr Pike said: "I am not one of those who attacks Lancashire County Council. I believe that it has done an extremely good job in many ways.

"But two-tier local government is not the best form of local government.

"Unitary authorities can better represent peoples needs; people understand where to go with their problems.

"My heart often tells me that Burnley should be a unitary authority in its own right. I recognise that it is probably too small and we need to join with other authorities."

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