THE MAYOR of one of Blackburn with Darwen’s twin towns has insisted taxpayer-funded visits between the venues should continue.

Andreas Hollstein, mayor of the German town of Altena, was one of the delegation who travelled to Peronne, in Northern France, for a twinning visit.

Blackburn with Darwen is twinned with the two towns, and the borough council sent six people for the two-night visit, paying for their flights at a cost of just over £1,500.

Mr Hollstein suggested delegates could share the cost in future, or try to arrange free accommodation, to beat the squeeze on public spending.

He added: “It was good to see our friends again, and to talk about town twinning.

“We need such visits to make connections between the towns.

“It’s not easy by telephone. If you can’t meet, there can be no twinning between the towns.”