A COUNCILLOR today warned the proposed uncovering of a town centre river could prompt an invasion of rats.

Veteran Tory Jim Hirst claimed that rats were already becoming a common sight in Blackburn on weekend nights, drawn by small mountains of rubbish discarded by drinkers.

Now he fears that plans to uncover the River Blakewater - which currently runs under the Boulevard, Railway Road and Ainsworth Street, could make rats a common sight during the day for the first time since the 1960s.

Today council bosses said other towns and cities had rivers without a massive rat problem.

And the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign said rubbish not being cleared away, rather than uncovering the river, was the issue.

The uncovering of the Blakewater is one of the proposals being considered as part of the £170m town centre masterplan, which aims to regenerate the town centre for the next 40 years.

Council bosses are currently investigating the viability of such a scheme, which has received widespread support throughout the borough.

Around 70 per cent of shoppers and visitors who took part in a survey about the plans supported the uncovering of the Blakewater, which was turned into an underground culvert when it was diverted to create space for Blackburn's market complex.

But Coun Hirst, who represents Beardwood and Lammack in the town, said: "I have spoken to many people who say rats are a common sight at night on Church Street. There is only one place where they are coming from, and that's the river. It's always been that way, and at night they are drawn by the rubbish left out.

"It will only get worse if the river is uncovered - much worse. It will make it easier for them to get out all the time and do nothing for the town.

"It's all well and good talking about CCTV covering the town to make people feel safe, but rats pay no regard to CCTV."

Coun Andy Kay, in charge of regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "Nothing has been decided about the river. It's an idea at this stage.

"Another idea is to recreate the river at ground level to mark where it flows underground. Many towns and cities have rivers running through them without being plagued by rats."

Coun Ron O'Keeffe, chairman of the council's policy and review committee, which is currently investigating street cleaning, said: "The problem of rats at night is something we are looking at."

Laura Butcher of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign, said: "It sounds to me like the uncovering of the river is not the issue and the existing problems with litter are.

"Uncovering the river won't make any difference, because as long as the rats can eat from leftover rubbish then the rat population is always going to increase."