TWO-HUNDRED people turned up to talk about a perfect vision for Darwen but left last night's regeneration meeting after seeing only a glimpse.

Coun Andy Kay, Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive member for regeneration, told the audience: "I'm not here for the fun of it. I promise the people of Darwen that I will do my best to carry out the list of things we want to do to make Darwen a better place."

But an anonymous voice from the back of a packed Derwent Hall bellowed: "We don't want understanding, we want answers"

And some people left the hall feeling disheartened, despite the council's promise to try to do the best it could to turn Darwen into a "town people could be proud of".

An action plan set out a number of issues to be tackled now, soon and in the future. The main ideas centred around bringing trade into Darwen and improving the A666, as well as improving the market.

A total of 18 members, including councillors, business people, members of the public and community association representatives, will make up the partnership board for the regeneration plan.

The initial report, funded by Single Regeneration Budget money, found that Darreners wanted a greater variety of shops and a nicer environment to shop in - but new findings are attracting even more questions for the council.

Frank Lang, chair of Darwen Community Association and board member, said: "We still don't have concrete answers and people need to know when we'll be seeing the improvements and where the money's coming from."

Gordon Holden, a former council building surveyor, said: "This regeneration plan needs to come from Darwen and you can't have people from Blackburn trying to do it."

Whitehall ward councillor Karimeh Foster said: "We have very little say in what goes on in Darwen and it feels like that right now."

Coun Kay said: "The strength of feeling is that strong in Darwen and, contrary to what the people think, we do care about what happens and we want to start the ball rolling by getting to know exactly what people want."