THE Audit Commission has decided against handing over control of Rossendale Council to Whitehall for the second time - but said the beleaguered authority still had a long way to go.

A second report, carried out after the first named the authority as the worst in the country, still found widespread weaknesses which caused the commission to consider asking the Secretary of State for Local Government to intervene.

But the council's positive response since it was placed 237 out of 237 councils in September, and its efforts to put things right, enabled the decision to be put on hold.

The follow-up inspection found a recovery plan showed it was broadly on track and making significant progress, with the assistance of other councils in the area.

As a result the inspectors decided intervention was unnecessary - although the option remains available.

Inspectors found the council was making good progress after the first report said it was providing unacceptably poor services at a high cost.

But they said there were still "certain areas" which needed attention, including housing, community safety, leisure and housing benefits.

They found that councillors from both political parties recognised the need to change and that there was now evidence of cross-party support for the recovery process and councillors' relationships with officers had improved significantly.

The report said the council now needed to focus on certain areas such as improving services for local people, performance management, communicating and consulting with staff, strengthening middle management and strengthening of its financial position with councillors needing to make difficult decisions about budgets and priorities.