A CAMPAIGN has been launched to give the public a greater say in how a council is run.

Liberal Democrats in Blackburn with Darwen want area councils to be formed across the borough.

The councils would then serve as forum for local people to vent their concerns, leaving councillors in no doubt about which issues were affecting residents the most, they claim.

Some 20,000 leaflets are being distributed throughout the unitary area ahead of a meeting of the full council on November 15, which will put the new council's new political structure in place.

Blackburn with Darwen has opted for an all-powerful cabinet, made up solely of Labour councillors, supported by a collection of overview and scrutiny committees which will assess where improvements to policy can be made.

Darwen Lib Dem councillor David Foster said: "The new way in which the council is run centralises power in too few hands.

"We are now being run by only eight councillors. We want to see some of the decisions made at a much more local level.

"Liberal Democrats would split the borough into roughly eight different areas and each area would have a committee made up of local councillors and, if possible, local people.

"They would be able to make decisions for their area.

"It would not just be a talking shop. Each area would have its own budget and the area committee, meeting in public in the local area, would decide how the money was spent.

"We see it as a way of getting local people more involved with their own communities.

"This has the potential to transform the way the council is run and the way local people look at local politics."

Several other Lancashire councils already have area councils, including Pendle and Hyndburn.

Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe has declared his area councils a success, with more than 200 people attending some of the meetings. Accrington area council has helped fund repairs at the church dedicated to the Accrington Pals.

And the Baxenden area council has created a new community garden with its annual budget.

But Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Bill Taylor said the idea had been mooted before -- and rejected by the public because they were seen as 'toothless talking shops.'

He said: "There was activity on the part of the Liberal Democrats a while back and the public just weren't interested.

"They are just toothless talking shops and the public seem to appreciate that.

"Instead, the are focusing on community, regeneration and economic groups where the public will be able to have a real say in what happens."

Coun Foster added: "We are deadly serious about this. We know it what people want, so much so that we have paid for a freepost address for people to reply to us."