A TOWN council could cost each household in Darwen less than £5 per year.

Campaigners say the increase in council tax would be a small price to pay for the benefits the move would bring to the town.

A town council for Darwen is one the key aims of the Lancashire Telegraph's We're Backing Darwen campaign.

If one was set up, residents would have to pay some extra council tax to cover its costs. But this is often as little as £5 per household, and could be even less, depending on the amount of powers the town council takes on.

A spokesman for the National Association of Town and Parish Councils said councils' budgets ranged from £100 to £1m per year, depending on the size of the town and the amount of powers it had.

He said: "On average, you are talking about £3 or £4 per head."

And Marion Gelder, of the association's Lancashire branch, said it would be money well spent.

She said: It all depends on what projects they are undertaking, and what the residents want them to do. They could set up things like sports facilities, which could cost the council many thousands.

"But it could also be something like £5 per year per household. I would definitely say it was money well spent.

"The advantage a town council has is that is can look at things from a local point of view."

One of the costs would be employing a town clerk, who could just work part-time and take a wage.

Town and parish councils are known as the first tier of local government, because they tend to work at community level.

There are around 10,000 of them in England and Wales, made up of nearly 100,000 councillors, who are not usually paid.

As well as having the option of being in charge of some low-level services, they can get involved in activities like planning, promoting tourism and licensing. They can also manage the town's community centres.

Whereas larger councils get about 70 per cent of their funding from the Government, town councils raise all their money through council tax.

For Darwen councillor Tony Melia, whose party is campaigning for a town council for Darwen, said it was to early to say exactly how much a town council would cost as three possible models were still being explored.