KEY organisers of Blackburn's annual Mela are furious at not being told about council plans to replace it.

Last night Blackburn with Darwen's ruling coalition approved plans to merge the Mela and Arts in the Park events into a two-day 'community arts festival', to take place in Blackburn town centre.

Both events were held in Witton Park but the Mela has been a celebration of ethnic culture whereas Arts in the Park has been a traditional music festival with big name acts.

Council chiefs say the new merged event will remove barriers between communities - but they have come under fire from volunteers, who say the new festival was planned without consulting them.

Shaukat Hussain, the secretary of the Blackburn and Darwen Pakistani Youth League, said: "I am bitter that we were not consulted.

"We have been working with the Mela since it started.

"I only found out when I read about it in the Lancashire Telegraph.

"You would have thought they would ask before writing the report."

Junaid Qureshi, chief executive of Blackburn and Darwen Ethnic Minority Development Association, added: "I don't know who they consulted about this, but they certainly didn't ask us.

"If they had asked us, we would have told them they should maintain the status quo."

Coun Naushad Surve, of the Mela organising committee, knew nothing until he saw the plans on the agenda for last night's meeting.

And Coun Salim Mulla, who is involved in the Indian Workers' Association and is chairman of the local Gujarati Association, said neither body had been consulted.

At last night's meeting of the council executive committee, there were angry exchanges as councillors voted to give the changes the go-ahead.

Opposition leader Kate Hollern, who voted against the proposals, said the change would destroy people's enjoyment of the two events.

She added: "The town centre can't create the atmosphere that the park does. In my opinion it will become a complete pub crawl."

Executive member for leisure and culture Coun Michael Law Riding said: "We should take a real good look at this and take it as an opportunity.

"Rather than some of the adverse comments that have been coming from some quarters, we should work together to provide a real first-class event."

Resources portfolio holder Coun Michael Lee insisted the change was not a money-saving exercise, adding: "The whole idea behind this is to bring people together."

Nobody from Lancashire police was available to comment on whether they had been consulted about the policing implications of the changes.