A TOWN has been praised for being an ‘example of a well-mixed community’ ahead of the return of a controversial documentary tonight.

More than a decade since the Panorama programme was first aired, ‘White Fright: Divided Britain’ will look to see if the town has changed since 2007.

On the BBC’s website, the new programme claims the town is ‘even more divided’ since the first documentary.

However community leaders say they believe the town has made great strides in the past 10 years and segregation has decreased.

The original show compared Asian celebrations of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday to white celebrations of St George’s Day.

It followed two taxi drivers, one white and one Asian, as they picked up fares to see if they operate in segregated areas.

It concluded that, while the drivers shared the town centre, their routes largely stuck to their own separate patches in Whalley Range and Mill Hill.

The controversial programme, which documented racial tensions in Blackburn, was even debated at the Cathedral.

REACTION: Panorama - White Fright: Divided Britain Blackburn segregation

BBC Panorama White Fright: 'Blackburn IS more divided'

Former MP for Blackburn, Jack Straw, chairman of the Blackburn Youth Zone, said this is not the Blackburn that its residents see on a day to day basis.

He said: “Where people live will always be a matter of personal choice.

“But despite the false picture painted by Panorama, to my certain knowledge Blackburn with Darwen has come a long way in the past 10 years to bring people of different faiths and communities better together.

“The most ‘segregated’ areas in Britain are not boroughs like Blackburn, but those composed only of white people.

“Moreover, some of the greatest and most persistent ‘segregation’ in the UK is by social class.

“My bet is that few if any of Panorama’s own journalists live in areas of social housing.

“They, like everybody else, will have gravitated to live in areas with people like themselves.

“The fact that people tend to live next door to people ‘like them’ is nothing new, nor remotely is this characteristic of the human condition confined to Muslim communities of Asian heritage.

“It just happens to be more noticeable, because those of Asian heritage have a different colour skin, and are not Christian.

“All the data used by Panorama has been known for years, including from the 2011 Census.”

According to the census, 70 per cent of the population in Blackburn with Darwen is white, with the population of black and minority ethnic groups (BMEs) at 30 per cent — three times larger than the regional averages.

This comes as Blackburn with Darwen Council launched a consultation on a new draft social integration strategy 2017-2020, last October.

The council has sought grants from a special government ‘Controlling Migration Fund’ of £100million over four years to help develop neighbourhoods, promote equality and invest in people and tackle hate crime.

Cllr Mohammed Khan, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “It is quite clear we have a mixed community in Blackburn.

“Look around the town centre, you see white and Asian people eating together in restaurants, shopping together and mixing in schools and at college.

“Just because you live in a street where the person next door to you is the same colour as you does not mean the town is segregated.

“There is not a serious problem of segregation in Blackburn, there is no tension and there are no riots. Since 2007 we have improved massively and the town is doing well.”

Faz Patel, East Lancashire community relations adviser, said Blackburn with Darwen is showing other boroughs across the country how a population can be so diverse and get on together efficiently.

He said: “We’ve got a fantastic town centre which has to be a great example of a well-mixed community for anyone to admire.

“People are mixing in schools, people are mixing at work, people are mixing everywhere.

“I believe we have made great steps forward and we can only continue to improve.”

Promotional material published on a BBC website ahead of tonight's show says: “In 2007 Panorama made a programme in Blackburn, which was becoming segregated along ethnic and religious lines.

“Now Panorama has returned and found a town that is even more divided.

“Some parts of Blackburn are almost entirely Muslim Asian, while other parts are only lived in by white residents.

“This kind of social segregation has been described as a national crisis, despite decades of government policy aimed at bringing people together.”

The show will air at 8.30pm on BBC One.