An independent councillor is calling for Preston City Council to come clean over the reason for its delay in transferring the authority's housing stock.

It comes after last week's announcement that the transfer of more than 6,000 homes to a new landlord, the Community Gateway Association (CGA), had been delayed from October to late November.

The reason given by council bosses was that more time was required to satisfy the requirements of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Housing Corporation, which monitor housing stock transfers.

But Coun Terry Cartwright is demanding the full facts.

Coun Cartwright, who has been opposed to the transfer for socialist reasons, said the council should come clean about the situation.

"This is very worrying, less than two months from the original transfer date and they have not got the situation in hand.

"I think the public need to be kept informed, which is why I am speaking to the Citizen because I want it in the public arena," he added.

The CGA will invest £80 million in bringing the homes up to a decent standard should the transfer go ahead.

The announcement on the delay came the day after CGA bosses revealed the organisation had decided to seek charitable status, which if granted could generate £13 million of additional funding through tax breaks.

A council spokesman said: "Complex negotiations currently centre on legal, technical, business planning, staffing and the many other issues that need resolving before the transfer can proceed."

He said these need to be in place to fulfil the commitments made to tenants and that the council was working closely with the CGA to make sure the November deadline was met.

The council has loaned the CGA £2.6 million for its set up costs. If the transfer does not go ahead the council would be responsible for meeting the costs of anything that has been spent.