A local authority finance boss was forced to explain why lights in its main building were burning bright in the early hours of a weekend morning.

A concerned resident turned up to Burnley Council's annual meeting on Wednesday night to demand to know why offices in the town hall, in Manchester Road, had been lit up in the middle of the night.

The authority's resources boss and deputy leader Cllr Margaret Lishman was forced to admit the likeliest explanation was that careless staff members had forgotten to switch off the lights when they left work for home the evening before.

David Roper told the meeting: "My question is short and sweet.

"Why were the lights on in Burnley Town Hall fifth floor on Saturday at 5am?"

Cllr Lishman replied: "I'd like to thank Mr Roper for his question and for alerting us to this issue.

"I've checked with officers and on this particular occasion there was no early morning taking place so it definitely wasn't that there was work going on.

"It seems therefore likely that perhaps the lights were left on Friday evening.

"Either that or sometimes the spotlights on the front of the town hall reflect on the windows.

"So it could be that but it's more likely the lights were left on.

"Fortunately the council has low-energy bulbs throughout the building now.

"In the corridors, these are all light sensored so that they turn off when nobody is moving.

"We don't tend to put those in the offices because it's inappropriate to have staff waving their arms to make sure the lights are working.

"But in this instance it would appear that perhaps somebody has left it on.

"If they have left it on the fact that its low energy will hopefully ensure that the cost on this occasion was not massive.

"But thanks to Mr Roper's alert the staff have all received a reminder to be more vigilant and to turn the lights off when they leave the building.

"And hopefully this will not be repeated. I therefore thank Mr Roper for his inquiry."