THE former Mayor and Mayoress of Padiham could be forced off the town council after refusing to work with the town clerk.

Coun Granville Lord, a founder member of Padiham's council which was formed last year, has not attended any town council meetings since he stepped down as mayor in May.

His wife, Coun Pat Lord, has also refused to attend any of the monthly meetings, although she has been to working groups.

The couple blame their failure to attend on a dispute with town clerk Elizabeth Bolton.

They claim the dispute revolves around comments they said she made to them concerning their time as mayor and mayoress.

Mrs Bolton refused to discuss the dispute today but confirmed that their future would be discussed by councillors next month.

A meeting held earlier this year at Padiham Football Club between the Lords, Mrs Bolton, the police and other councillors failed to resolve the issue.

Mr and Mrs Lord have since written to all Padiham town councillors explaining the situation.

Under local government rules, any councillor who does not attend meetings for six months without sending apologies can be disqualified from the council. The fate of both councillors will be decided at the next meeting of the council on December 1 when fellow councillors will decide on a resolution to disqualify them.

Granville Lord said: "This is a matter of principle for both myself and my wife. Neither of us are prepared to resign from the council because we have done nothing wrong, but after what has happened we find it impossible to work with Mrs Bolton.

"If we are thrown off the council then so be it. It would obviously be a disappointment because we have been there from the start, but we can still carry on doing what we do for the good of the community.

"Just because we are no longer councillors does not mean we should stop trying to make a difference."

Mrs Bolton said: "There is an item on the agenda for the December meeting on the basis that neither of the Lords has attended the council for six months. The law is pure and simple in that any councillor who fails to attend for six months faces automatic disqualification."