NEXT month's council elections could see power shifts at more than one East Lancashire town hall. Even before nominations were announced the all-postal ballot was causing more controversy than any of its predecessors. DANNY BRIERLEY examines the issues facing voters. . .

BLACKBURN with Darwen Council is the only East Lancashire authority to have full elections.

A total of 64 seats are up for grabs and all of the borough's serving councillors are now at the mercy of the electorate.

The ruling Labour group, like their colleagues at other councils, will be hoping the traditional mid-term backlash against a serving government does not loosen their grip on power.

Just four seats need to move from Labour command to opposing parties and the council chamber would have no overall control.

That would probably put the Liberal Democrat group headed by councillor Paul Browne at the centre of attention.

He has made it clear in the past he would be unlikely to form a coalition with a Labour group headed by council leader Sir Bill Taylor.

Sir Taylor will rely on Labour's record of attracting record levels if investment into Blackburn and Darwen as well as the large number of regeneration projects taking place across the borough.

However, opposition councillors know that problems in some of the borough's secondary schools, including Darwen Moorland and Queen's Park going into special measures, and the loss of some high profile Labour councillors, like Sue Reid and Don Rishton, could help them win seats.

Colin Rigby's Tory group, which has 16 councillors at the moment, would be less likely to form a Labour-Tory axis, but would not rule out a merger with the Lib Dems.

Like most other East Lancashire councils with elections this year the British National Party is fielding candidates in Blackburn.

Robin Evans, who was the town's first BNP councillor, but left the party last year, is fighting for his Mill Hill seat as an independent and faces BNP candidate Alistair Holyoak.

Mainstream parties are hoping the far-right vote is split in Mill Hill, which will prevent either Coun Evans or Mr Holyoak being elected.

The BNP is also fielding candidates in Ewood, Livesey with Pleasington and Meadowhead. Like Mill Hill, Meadowhead has two far-right candidates among those vying for a council seat.

Mark Cotterill stands for the England First Party and has already expressed his anger at the BNP's decision to put Nicholas Holt up for election in the same ward.

The count for Blackburn with Darwen's elections will take place on Friday, June 11. Returning officer Phil Watson said this was because the counting process was likely to take longer than usual.d=2,4 f=Zapf Dingbatso

lHYNDBURN Council has had a year most at the town hall will want to forget. A £1.8million budget deficit still appears to be causing problems for the ruling Conservative group headed by leader Peter Britcliffe.

The leader and his cabinet are faced with dilemmas about spending and its finances, which they have blamed on their Labour predecessors.

Council assets have been sold, including Great Harwood's Oxo Mill and the town's cinema, to try to balance the books.

The Conservatives were accused by their Labour colleagues, who lost power last year, of using the budget deficit to "scaremonger" residents into believing this year's low council tax rise was real value for money.

But the Labour group, headed by councillor Jean Battle, is hoping the budget issues come back to haunt Coun Britcliffe and his team.

The Tory group has only a one seat advantage over Labour and all eyes will be on the Barnfield ward again. At the last election Green candidate Ian Dixon was accused of taking votes away from the Labour candidate Wendy Dwyer, who was also Mayor-elect.

This time Labour think Mr Dixon presents more of a danger to Barnfield's Tory candidate, councillor Tony Dobson.

Hyndburn Council is still waiting to hear if its appeal against the results of its first annual inspection has been successful. The council was judged to be "fair" by the Audit Commission, which angered Peter Britcliffe.

Most of the 12 seats up for grabs are a fight between Labour and Conservative candidates, with both groups defending six seats.

The Liberal Democrats, however, are contesting three wards, more than in recent years.

The council leader will rely on his record as leader to help him keep control of the council. His Tory group will take stock from a low council tax rise, which goes down well with voters.

He will also be hoping the promise of large-scale regeneration projects in Church, West Accrington and other parts of the borough will bolster support for his party.d=2,4 f=Zapf Dingbatso

lROSSENDALE Council is still trying to recover from being labelled Britain's worst council in 2002. The authority was placed 237 out of 237 and given a "poor" rating by the Audit Commission.

The authority was still judged to be poor last year, but inspectors said the council was improving. Labour has control and will try to persuade voters it has made great strides since Rossendale reached its nadir two years ago.

Conservatives will be slightly hampered by the fact that four of their councillors sit on the ruling executive committee. This year's budget was given cross-party support so Rossendale Council Tories will have to look elsewhere to make political points.

Like many of their counterparts in other parts of the country the Conservatives will try to make great play of national issues. The party in Rossendale will be well aware that is expected to take seats from Labour and could be in the driving seat after June 10.

Labour, on the other hand, will fight on local issues and believes it has made a number of significant improvements since it took control.

A new chief executive, Owen Williams, has been drafted in and appears to have made an early impact in bringing the council's various departments up to scratch.

But issues like lack of town centre parking in Rawtenstall could cause problems for whoever voters feel is to blame.

Graham Pearson, the former council leader whose health problems forced him to hand power to David Hancock is up for election in Hareholme.