CORONATION Street idol Vera Duckworth has urged Burnley voters to turn their backs on the BNP and warned "all hell could break loose" if they are elected.

Actress Liz Dawn - one half of the country's favourite working class couple Vera and Jack - came to the town as the battle against the far right party was stepped up before Thursday's local elections.

The BNP has fielded 13 candidates in a bid to gain seats on Burnley Council following last summer's riots.

And today deputy organiser of Burnley and Pendle's BNP party Simon Bennett said: "These kind of people have no understanding of Burnley's unique housing and funding problems and should keep out of something they know nothing about. People need to look at the facts before they make their comments."

In a report into the riots, some white sections of the community claimed Asian areas received preferential treatment when grants are handed out, despite widespread denials by the council's ruling Labour group.

Crowds of people gathered near Burnley's band stand on Saturday to get a glimpse of Liz Dawn.

And she delivered a strong message as well as signing autographs the day after Prime Minister Tony Blair visited East Lancashire to encourage voters to stay clear of the BNP.

Her views were backed by Tony Blair's Press secretary Alistair Campbell, who gave a rare interview to warn publicly of the dangers of the BNP.

Liz Dawn said: "The BNP would only make things a lot worse for Burnley so people should make sure they stand up and be counted in the local elections."

The actress spoke of her "deepest fears" for Burnley if the BNP did win a seat in the local elections.

She said: "I am a pensioner myself and have four children. I want them to be brought up in an amicable society like the rest of the people in Burnley do.

"If the BNP were to get in who knows what harm they would cause for the town and for many other neighbouring towns.

"It is a great concern of mine to know that these kind of extremist parties could one day be in power using their dirty tactics to divide the town.

"I live in an area full of Jews and we all get on just fine.

"I can see that Burnley is a multi-race community and that people do get on well together, but all it takes is a few harmful words here and there and then all hell can break loose."

Although he was not at Saturday's event, die-hard Burnley football fan, Alistair Campbell said Burnley's community would be "torn apart" if the BNP win a seat in Thursday's local elections.

Mr Campbell said that all the good work that had been done in Burnley would be lost forever if the BNP won a seat.

The fanatical Burnley fan said it would open floodgates for the world's media to target Burnley and tag it as a racist town.

He said: "I love Burnley and all its people, especially on Saturday before a football match, it really brings the community together.

"I have no doubt in my mind that if the BNP do get a seat the community will be torn apart and unforeseen troubles would be set loose.

"If this disaster should happen, Burnley would be the only town in the country to have an extremist and racist councillor.

"People should realise that the BNP only came to Burnley because of the riots and thought they could get votes from the people here.

"I urge anybody thinking about voting for these people to think about what they are doing because the BNP have only one interest and that is to destroy and divide towns."

Labour MP Peter Pike, who was at Saturday's rally, said: "Even if people do not want to vote for Labour I would urge them to use their vote very wisely and think about the consequences before they put their mark in the box."

Mr Campbell's intervention provoked immediate speculation that he was opening a bid to succeed Peter Pike as MP for the town who is expected to stand down before the next election.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "He has already made clear that he has no intention of becoming MP for Burnley or anywhere else."