NEARLY half of 36 new allotments created in Darwen are not being used due to fears over asbestos contamination.

Overgrown land off Rose Hill Street was transformed into Roseberry Park after three years of campaigning by resident Tracy Jones, local councillors and Capita on behalf of Blackburn with Darwen Council.

But while 26 tenancies have been agreed and 10 offered to interested parties, only around 19 of the 36 plots are being cultivated.

Members of the Roseberry Park Allotments Association met at St Peter's School this week to discuss whether this was linked to the discovery of white asbestos in April.

Coun Simon Hugill, the founder of the association, said he had been lobbying the Health and Safety Executive in Preston for guidance for two months and was regularly meeting with Capita to try and resolve the issue.

He said: “The area used to be allotments, then they went out of use and people did quite a lot of fly-tipping down there.

“People have been digging stuff out, and amongst it we found white asbestos.

“What we are trying to do is find out what level of risk there is, because some people say there is none at all and some say it is terrible.”

"White asbestos is not as dangerous as blue or brown asbestos, and some experts argue it carries little, if any, risk.

Coun Hugill added: “The sad thing is we've missed a whole growing season really, and for the people who have grown on there, it's been fantastic.”

Mrs Jones, 47, of Somerset Avenue, said she was very disappointed.

She said: “When my husband Nigel died I made a promise to him that I wouldn't give up and I would get this land turned into allotments.

“I'm shell-shocked. I know that there are so many people in Darwen who want a plot and when I go up there I see all these plots that aren't being used.

“The asbestos destabilised everything, as soon as people found it the Chinese whispers started and it started putting people off."