COUNCIL bosses say there is nothing to worry about despite one of its main partners posting a loss of more than £500 million.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been in bed with outsourcing giant Capita since 2001 and the firm's pre-tax losses for 2017 came in at £513.1m.

But resources chief Cllr Andy Kay played down fears the company could be in danger of collapsing in the same way as Carillion did earlier this year.

He said: "It should not affect us because this is about the company as a whole rather than their partnership with us.

"They are nothing like the same sort of company as Carillion. They're not involved with PFIs or things like that - they just deal with contracting.

"Of course, you never really know with things like this because it could all go wrong tomorrow."

Cllr Kay added council officials are due to meet with Capita representatives today [DEL Tuesday] for a pre-planned update meeting and they would know more about the situation following that.

Regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley added: "We obviously keep an eye on Capita's finances and their situation because we do have a very serious relationship with them.

"We are aware of their trading circumstances."

Set up in 2001, Capita’s partnership with Blackburn with Darwen Council was one of the first of its kind in local government.

The partnership was created to provide a range of services within the property, development and regeneration sector and supporting the council’s ‘2020 vision’ to transform the borough into an attractive place that people and businesses want to be.

Last year, Capita kept a key part of its ground-breaking 15-year contract with Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Under government rules the £10million-a-year outsourcing deal, struck in 2001, had to be ended by June 30 2017.

The borough took back several key services in house during the renegotiation process, including welfare and benefits payments.

But the firm won the right to keep the technical services until 2021.

The five-year-deal, worth at least £60 million, covers highway services, design, property, architectural services and technical services.

Capita has played a key role in designing the long-delayed new Blackburn bus station, the town's Youth Zone, and also managed the £40million Pennine Reach public transport scheme in the borough.

Services taken back 'in house' by the borough included accounts for debtors and creditors, revenues and benefits, parking, and design and print services.

But now Capita is to tap investors for £701 million and embark on a new strategy after booking a hefty annual loss.

Revenue fell 4 per cent to £4.23 billion in the year to December 31 and the firm also announced a £701 million rights issues as part of a transformation strategy under new chief executive Jonathan Lewis.

The proceeds of the rights issue, part of a major overhaul, will be used to reduce Capita's debt and make investments.

Capita's woes comes after construction group and outsourcing rival Carillion collapsed into liquidation in January, leaving the taxpayer on the hook for billions of pounds of projects and pension liabilities.

Mr Lewis said Capita will centralise its procurement, consolidate its UK footprint and exit leases on properties as the chief executive seeks to cut costs.

But he also dismissed comparisons with Carillion.