DARWEN town centre's bid to crack down on crime has been shattered.

A joint proposal by Blackburn Council and Lancashire police for government cash to install closed circuit television in the town has been rejected by Home Office chiefs.

The scheme would have mirrored Blackburn's which is funded by the council, City Challenge and the Safer Cities crime prevention programme and provided three cameras giving 24-hour surveillance, monitoring equipment at Darwen Police Station and a link with the control room in Blackburn Shopping Centre.

Darwen's was one of 250 bids from around for a share of £17 million hand-out.

Council leader Malcolm Doherty said: "We are not sure why we were unsuccessful but the guidelines did state that preference would be given to councils which did not have access to additional resources such as City Challenge, Single Regeneration and European money."

Councillor Mohammed Khan, chair of the council's urban regeneration sub committee, said: "We will find out exactly why we did not succeed and will probably submit the same or an amended application in the next bidding round."

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