LANCASHIRE County Council has been blasted for spending £25million less than it promised during the last financial year.

Accounts for 2003/04 show the massive underspend in the authority's capital programme, which was defended by county hall officers at a meeting of the authority's ruling cabinet committee.

Figures show the county council was due to spend £115,897,000 on its capital programme for major projects, but only spent £90,032,000.

The figures could alarm some cash-strapped departments like the council's youth and community service, which struggled for money last year.

Spending on the controversial care homes project, during which hundreds of elderly residents were moved out of county council accommodation, was £2.75million less than predicted.

Councillor Chris Cheetham, cabinet member for adult services, said this was due to deliberate delays to ensure the well-being of residents and rising building costs.

"The care homes project has slipped but part of that was quite deliberate," Coun Cheetham said. "We will be delivering a better programme it's just that it will take a little bit more time."

The care homes budget blunder comes after it was revealed the county council was forced to put £7.5million more into the project after getting its calculations wrong.

County councillors voted to close and sell 35 of its 48 old folk's residential homes, 19 of which were in East Lancashire, as part of a service review. The remaining 16 were due to be refurbished and a new one built at a cost of £15,441,000.

But county hall bosses admitted getting their figures wrong and said the cost has risen to £22,984,000, in spite of the fact the council was due to make an estimated £4.895 million from the sale of former homes.

Other areas where the council failed to spend what it had budgeted for included a Rawtenstall Youth and Community Centre refurbishment project which saw "slippage" of £246,000.

The county council's head of resources, councillor Tony Martin, promised that they money would be carried forward for the current financial year.

However, although it is not unusual for councils to underspend, Coun David Whipp, leader of the LibDem group at county hall, said: "This is investment that should already have taken place.

"I would rather see the investment spent on facilities, rather than sat in a bank waiting.

"How can the county council say that in future the things it promises are delivered on time?"

Defending the figures Jim Edney, deputy chief executive, said: "The County Council has a track record and I was impressed how it can spend such a high proportion of its budgets.

"This is the first year we have seen slippage."

Coun Martin said he accepted there were problems, but added: "I am not spending money inappropriately."