A NEW £2,000 sign at the entrance to a Burnley suburb has been slammed as a waste of money.

The Whittlefield with Ightenhill sign, in Pendle Way, was paid for out of the Ward Opportunities Fund, a pot of money given to local councillors to spend in their area.

Three councillors in each ward are given £11,000 per ward each year by Burnley Council to spend as they choose and, as well as the sign, councillors in Ightenhill have bought several large floral planters, at a cost of £700 each.

But Alice Thornber, 84, who lives in Cumbrian Way, said the sign was ‘ridiculous’.

She said: “It’s wrong. They should have asked the residents what they wanted the money to be spent on.

I’ve seen all the flowers too. It’s silly because we need money, but we don’t need money just for flowers, do we?” Tyrell McGowan, 21, of West-wood Road, said: “Maybe instead of trying to make it look nice with a superficial sign, they could actually spend money that helps residents who are struggling to make ends meet.”

Coun Ida Carmichael, who represents Whittlefield with Ightenhill, said the sign had been put there to make the ward look nicer.

She said: “As councillors we have been working within the ward to try to make it a much more approachable place, and we just thought this was a nice thing to do.

"We put it there because it’s the gateway into the ward, the gateway into Whittlefield and Ightenhill.”

Other signs around Burnley include one at the junction of Todmorden Road and Parliament Street, and one at the junction of Manchester Road and Rosehill Avenue. A sign has also been put up in Printers Fold, at the junction of Scott Street. All three signs cost just over £500. The Habergham Eaves Welcome Sign, in Coal Clough, cost £350, and another sign is set to be installed in Gannow.

A council spokesman said the Ightenhill sign cost £2,058.70, with the higher cost due to the character of the sign, which is made from iron on a large boulder, and the cost of a range of improvements at the site of the sign, including paving.