HIGH Court action is threatened by Lancashire County Council in a last-ditch bid to stop Blackburn and Blackpool breaking free from county control.

Environment Secretary John Gummer has already said the boroughs can go it alone and deliver all local services. But the final paperwork has still to go before Parliament and, in the meantime, Mr Gummer has ordered the Local Government Commission to produce a final report dealing with electoral boundaries and the size of wards.

Now Lancashire has threatened to take advantage of a loophole in a bid to force a rethink over the whole unitary issue. Leader Louise Ellman today asked Mr Gummer to delay seeking the approval of Parliament until he has received the commission's final report. If he refuses, she has vowed to test the issue in the courts.

Mrs Ellman claimed it was not possible for him or the commission to limit a review solely to electoral matters.

"It is, therefore, open to any person, including the county council, to submit further evidence to the commission on structural, boundary or electoral matters during the course of the review," she said.

"We have asked the Secretary of State not to rush through any costly changes until all the fundamental changes have been thoroughly examined. These include structural matters as well as boundary issues and decisions on the number of councillors."

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