COUNCILLORS have hit out after £30,000 earmarked for tree pruning was used to fell diseased conker trees instead.

Labour councillors in Hyndburn have accused the ruling Conservative party of wasting cash set aside for pruning in parts of the borough after diseased trees have been identified as a potential safety hazard.

The money was allocated by the Labour group when they were in power for pruning in the Laneside, Woodnook and Bullough Park areas, but Coun Malcolm Pritchard told a meeting of the council's cabinet that it had been used for a felling programme in Great Harwood's Memorial Park.

A total of 27 horse chesnut trees in the park have already been axed with a further 33 facing the chop after they were found to have Phytophthora Bleeding Canker -- a disease currently sweeping Lancashire that has now struck 160 trees in Hyndburn.

The disease attacks bark, leaving it open to infection, and makes brittle branches prone to fall off. Symptoms include black tar spots, gum weeping from affected areas and yellow leaves, which can shed in late summer.

It was first highlighted in July and threatens to eradicate the borough's annual conker yield. But it has also struck in Leyland, Chorley, Rawtenstall, Burnley, the Ribble Valley and further afield in Gloucestershire and North Wales.

Coun Pritchard said: "Before the Conservative group took over we had allowed £30,000 for the pruning of trees in the Laneside, Woodnook and Bullough Park areas. It's my understanding you have taken that money away from those areas for the felling of trees throughout the borough."

Coun Brian Walmsley, portfolio holder for public open spaces, said: "Yes, this money has had to be moved across. First and foremost it was the safety aspect. That job has to be done as soon as possible."

Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "We have had a tremendous problem in Memorial Park. My last costing was somewhere in the region of of £28,000, taking away most of the budget we had.

"I'm currently looking at the situation to see where we could find extra funding for the pruning. But money doesn't grow on trees.

"We will have to look at what we can do and possibly budget for it next year.

"What we are looking at in Memorial Park could be the tip of the iceberg as it's a national problem."