HYNDBURN'S troubled leisure centres are set to be managed by Blackburn with Darwen Council in a bid to overcome debt problems.

It is hoped the experience that Blackburn with Darwen Council can bring to running Hyndburn Leisure Trust will turn around current problems.

Last year Hyndburn Council had to bail out the trust, an arms-length company that runs public leisure facilities in Hyndburn, after it ran up debts of more than £300,000.

And it was feared that financial problems could have forced the closure of some facilities. It is now hoped that with new management at the helm, investment of more than £1million could be attracted from external sources.

No details have been released on the costs, or how the system would work.

But Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe said: "I am delighted that we have identified a solution that should provide job security for the employees of the leisure trust.

"I expect it to provide improved services for our community and I am really looking forward to the exciting prospects ahead."

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Colin Rigby said: "Although we are still in the very early stages, we would welcome the opportunity to work with Hyndburn Council on leisure issues."

The Leisure in Hyndburn Charitable Trust was set up in 2001 by the council to run all the authority's leisure centres, which attract more than 800,000 users each year.

The trust is responsible for operating Hyndburn Sports Centre in Church; Mercer Hall leisure centre, Great Harwood; Wilson playing fields in Clayton-le-Moors; Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre; and part of Accrington Town Hall.

Hyndburn Council had invited expressions of interest' to manage its leisure services before Blackburn with Darwen Council was announced as the preferred partner.

Over the next few months discussions will take place on detailed arrangements with the Leisure in Hyndburn Trust and Blackburn with Darwen on how services can be developed and operated in the future.

Shabir Siddiq, chairman of the Leisure in Hyndburn Board, said: "We are disappointed that our subm-ission is not the council's preferred proposal for the future management of leis-ure services in Hyndburn.

"However, we are pleased to have been offered the opportunity to work with the council and the preferred partner, Blackburn with Darwen, to develop new arrangements for the continued delivery of leisure services. "We are also pleased that job security and protection of existing pens-ion arrangements for trust staff have been secured."