THE jobs of 16 Whitworth Town Council staff are secure until September. Rossendale Council has agreed to continue to pay their wages.

But calls for an extra £30,000 cash, in addition to an agreed £300,000, fell on stoney ground when council leader John McManus pointed out Rossendale had to save £800,000.

Coun Eileen Kershaw, Whitworth Mayor and council leader, criticised Rossendale councillors McManus and Christine Adamson for pursuing Whitworth's problems through the Press.

She said: "Continuous and constant releases which are inaccurate, inflammatory, misguided and mischievous are not conducive to the good relationship between the two councils.

"A good relationship between the two councils is indeed essential, but such a relationship does not imply subservience and unquestioning acquiescence on the part of Whitworth's representatives."

She said comments made when the Press was not present went on to be reported in newspapers and she queried how safe members were when someone was intent on getting a headline.

Former town clerk Gerry Taylor disappeared at the same time Whitworth discovered £137,000 was missing, but a report to the Policy and Resources Committee said Whitworth Council had liabilities of up to £400,000.

Coun Kershaw moved an amendment that no decision on Rossendale's financial aid to Whitworth be made until a special meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee and Whitworth councillors, but it fell when put to the vote.

In a Press statement Coun McManus said: "Rossendale councillors want to be sure that money provided for services to the people of Whitworth is spent on those services.

"We are sympathetic to the problems Whitworth is facing and have continued to pay the wages of the staff through all those difficulties.

"But we have problems too and Whitworth councillors will have to come up with some very strong reasons for demanding such a large increase."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.