WHAT an unsavoury mess Ribble Valley Council has got itself into over the future of one of its leisure centres. Instead of providing a valuable amenity for local people, Longridge sports centre is instead proving an unmanageable drain on council tax payers' money.

A dual use agreement signed by both parties after the sports centre was built in 1979 means the school uses the facilities in term time, while the centre is open to the public in out-of-school hours.

Ribble Valley Council has paid out nearly £1.6million in support costs over the last 10 years but the artificial pitch is still damaged, the sports hall roof leaks and both have become health hazards. Now we learn that school extensions could further hamper the venue's operation as a community facility. Whoever allowed such a mess of dual use agreement to be agreed has left a legacy of confusion and problems which must never happen again.

But the council tax payers of the Ribble Valley deserve more than this. They deserve a full explanation of why the errors were made and who is responsible.

Quite rightly, the new working group of councillors set up the thrash out the centre's future should not get involved in a witch-hunt. But neither should they try to simply smooth over the cracks.