By DANNY BRIERLEY

LANCASHIRE County Council has rubbished reports that their proposals for local government reorganisation are about to be dropped.

A report in the the Local Government Chronicle said the plans for a Lancashire unitary council were set to be dismissed by the Boundary Committee.

The committee is currently considering three options for the future of the county, should voters opt for a regional assembly in autumn.

The report claims that county-wide council plans could be accepted in Cumbria and Northumberland but quotes a senior figure claiming that similar proposals in Lancashire and Cheshire will be rejected.

But Lancashire County Council leader Hazel Harding, who is opposed to the idea of a North West government, said she believed her plan was still in with a chance of being adapted.

"We spoke with the Boundary Committee a couple of weeks ago". Coun Harding said.

"They came to talk to us about it, as they did with a number of authorities, and there was no indication at that point that they had made up their minds.

"I am confident we are being treated fairly." The Rossendale West county councillor believes the plan would be best for Lancashire if people vote to have a regional assembly.

The county council plan has been criticised for being too large and unworkable. When it was announced Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "I'm certainly not in favour of the county-wide suggestion.

"I don't think it's a serious runner to propose an authority running from Colne in the east to Blackpool in the west."

The Lancashire plan is one of three being considered by the Boundary Committee, whose public consultation period ended this week.

The others included an East Lancashire unitary authority and two others made up from Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

In Blackburn and Darwen, where voters will not be asked about local government reorganisation, the council has submitted a revised plan for a merger with Hyndburn and parts of the Ribble Valley, including Wilpshire and Mellor.

A Boundary Committee spokesman backed up Coun Harding's claim and said nothing had been ruled out: "The option for a Lancashire-wide unitary authority has not been ruled out.

I don't know who this senior figure is supposed to be because I know the Lancashire option is certainly being debated."

"The committee said it was not willing to pre-empt its findings before they are officially announced."

The Boundary Committee is due to announce its findings in May.