HALF-a-million pounds sounds like a lot of money to spend on a building just to see it demolished.

But that is what Blackburn with Darwen Council has done in order to secure land currently occupied by a funeral parlour.

Council chiefs have said that they have major plans for the site in Accrington Road, Blackburn, which will be knocked down along with the neighbouring former Printer’s Arms pub.

It is believed a new road may be destined for the land, but the council has remained tight-lipped about any plans. The deal has been called ‘bizarre’ by an estate agent and attacked by opposition councillors who claimed cost was ‘crazy’. But the council has asked the public, who have funded the deal, to trust them.

At present the £500,000 price tag does seem to be high for the building.

But it is possible the cost will end up being cheap when weighed against the benefits the proposed development brings to the town.

We will have to wait and see whether or not the council has secured a good deal.

And if the plans never come to fruition, they will be perfectly entitled to criticise the decision.