NORDEN councillor Russell Davies has decided to step out of the running for next year's Rishton ward elections in April.

The town is set to lose one of its three seats under a boundary shake-up next year which will transform the area into one ward called Rishton instead of the current two.

All Hyndburn councillors are up for re-election in April after a major reshuffle which will reduce the number of ward councillors from 47 to 35, the number of wards from 17 to 16.

A meeting was held between the Eachill and Norden ward councillors Ann Scaife, June Butler, Russell Davies and Stanley Horne to decide who would abstain and the mutual decision was reached.

Coun Davies, who has been ward councillor for four years, said: "My decision was based on the fact that there are two Rishton councillors who live in Rishton and that Stanley is more senior than me, so I thought it only fair to step aside and allow those three to carry on.

"Stanley has put a lot of work in for the party and it would be wrong of me to try and take that away.

"Central government is making it difficult for smaller boroughs like ourselves with this decision and there is going to be immense pressure put on the remaining councillors now. The pressure on them will be astronomical and it is unfair."

The Government Commission reviews electoral boundaries every 20 years to accommodate new houses and the demolition of older properties and after the last review in 1999 it was decided to cut down and have predominantly two-member wards.

Coun Ann Scaife said: "Fortunately, this decision has worked out amicably in our ward but the problem is on everybody's doorsteps. Rishton will be run by three councillors instead of four but we are part-time not full-time, so the area would be best off with four."

"There is a lot of work to do and it will be the same amount of work but with less people. People have jobs to go to and I don't know if I could be doing what I am doing now if I was still working".

Baxenden ward is also set to lose one of its three seats after the boundary changes and last week Deputy Mayor Coun Derek Scholes expressed his disgust when he was de-selected by the Tory party after a decision could not be reached among the three Conservative candidates.