A CHAIRMAN of governors has accused council chiefs of hijacking his school's sports hall plans and putting staff at odds with local protesters.

Don Heatlie-Jackson spoke out as the controversial rebuilding of Darwen leisure centre was approved by Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The leisure centre will lose its sports hall as part of the £9million scheme, which will include a competition-sized swimming pool, although residents will be able to use a new facility at Darwen Vale High School.

But Mr Heatlie-Jackson, who governs the school, said council chiefs had portrayed the new sports hall as part of the leisure centre plan.

And he said residents' concerns that public use of the sports hall will be restricted because it will also be used by pupils was not the school's fault.

He said a new sports hall was the school's brainchild, it had been well on with planning a new facility and it would have gone ahead anyway without council involvement.

Mr Heatlie-Jackson, former leader of the Tories in the borough, said: "This project is being seen as £1.5million scheme as part of the leisure centre, but it is nothing to do with the leisure centre at all.

"They got on the bandwagon. All the publicity in the council's Shuttle newspaper has completely ignored our contribution."

He said the council contributed £400,000, Bar-clay's £600,000, and the school and Blackburn Rovers were putting in more than £250,000 each for the sports hall.

He said: "This is going to be a three-way partnership, and it will be run by a three-way management committee."

He said the school accepted the council coming in on the scheme because it meant more money but people had been allowed to assume "or were encouraged to assume" it was a council project.

He said the school had also contributed land to the scheme and car parking spaces. "In short, without the co-operation afforded by the school, Darwen community users would now be without a gymnasium," he said.

Leader of the Tory opposition, Coun Colin Rigby, said the school's plans had provided a "quick fix to an embarrassing problem" for the council.

The scheme involves demolishing the rundown centre in Green Street, which has a crack in the swimming pool, and replacing it with a new building housing a 25-metre, eight-lane pool.

The plans attracted opposition after councillors decided there was not enough space for a sports hall and campaigners protested about losing part of the front of the historic building.

Coun John Milburn, executive member for culture and leisure, said: "The school has always been aware that this is a partnership and we're delighted to be working with them. It will bring new facilities to the whole community."