BOSSES at Blackburn with Darwen Council face having to make further spending cuts because of the failure of neighbouring Bolton’s bid for school rebuilding cash.

Urgent talks are underway following Education Secretary Michael Gove’s decision to scrap more than 700 projects under the Building Schools for the Future scheme.

Improvements to 10 schools in Blackburn and Darwen were unaffected by the announcement, because the the final contracts had been signed, but Bolton, which is sharing the costs, saw seven projects stopped.

It is understood Bolton's scheme had not reached the same stage of completion as Blackburn.

This will mean extra costs will fall on Blackburn with Darwen - but it is not believed to be looking at scaling back its plans.

This means the council - which has already announced £4million spending cuts this year - will have to find more budget savings this year, potentially running into millions of pounds.

Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton are also negotiating with developer Balfour Beatty to decide who will cover the costs. And the two councils - whose joint bid had already been approved - are also asking for compensation from the government.

Harry Catherall, deputy chief executive of Blackburn with Darwen, welcomed the council’s approval but said he was 'very disappointed' Bolton’s bid had been scrapped. The council is waiting for 'clarification on the implications' of Bolton’s failure to get the go-ahead, he added.

Critics said the decision to join forces with Bolton had been 'hasty'.

Labour group leader Kate Hollern said: “It was a gamble they were prepared to take, and we’ve paid the price.”

But council chiefs said the costs would have been higher if Blackburn had gone it alone.

Tory council leader Mike Lee said: “We pushed it to get to financial close, and it’s paid off.”