COLIN Rigby, the councillor who branded Blackburn 'a grotty mill town,' today defended his outburst by saying: "Look at the evidence."

Coun Rigby, leader of the Conservatives on Blackburn with Darwen Council, caused outrage with his comments.

He claimed it was pointless spending £1.3million on refurbishing the Pavilions in Church Street, and said the only reason it was happening was because the Labour-run council was trying to compete with Preston.

He said: "We need to remember that at the moment Blackburn is a grotty mill town."

His comments caused outrage and prompted condemnation from all sides, but today Coun Rigby said: "My comments about Blackburn being a grotty town were based on the conduct of the executive portfolio holders.

"Let's look at Church Street and Darwen Street refurbishments.

"Here was a chance to move into this century, instead we looked back to the Victorian era with reminders of the town's past.

"If we look at the decrepit state of the Pavilions, this tells you what the view of the ruling group is with regard old buildings.

"The Old Town Hall, one of the finest buildings in our care, has a leaky roof and the fourth floor roof is being held up by props.

"No funds are available for this work, but £900,000 can be found from the Regional Development Agency to make the Pavilions structurally secure so they do not collapse.

"They then have to find an occupant to pay to refurbish the insides of buildings, and then to pay an economic rent of £1,100 a week, over 20 years, this is to repay the cost of repairs, no profit margin is included.

"Check out the number of empty properties in Darwen Street and Church Street and ask yourself if it is worth the expense."