PENDLE council will tonight be asked to make its opposition to a Pennine Lancashire super council official.

Cllr David Whipp, leader of the borough’s Liberal Democrat Group, will warn colleagues the proposed all-purpose authority would be a Blackburn with Darwen ‘take-over’.

He will tonight move a formal motion at Pendle’s Full Council meeting to make its opposition to a Pennine Lancashire Unitary Authority explicit.

The proposal submitted to the government last year would see Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale councils merge together. Hyndburn and Ribble Valley are opposed to the plan.

Now Cllr Whipp wants Pendle’s new Labour/LibDem administration to pull out of any talks on the shake-up.

He said: “Imposing a unitary authority centred on Blackburn will lead to the loss of any true local control on local matters by local residents and their representatives.

“It would mean a take-over of local services in Pendle, many of which would no doubt be cut and closed down and sold off to meet the needs of the bigger towns to the west.”