A COUNCIL leader and a planning chief have been told to keep their noses out of Barnoldswick's business after a play house planning row.

Area committee chairman Coun Margaret Bell faced calls for her resignation this week after the "fiasco" about whether a wendy house, in Coates Lane, should be pulled down.

Pendle Council leader Coun Ahar Ali and planning chairman Frank Clifford made the call after councillors changed their mind and removed the threat of legal action against the Goodwill family.

But Coun Bell, chairman of the West Craven Committee denied she had been responsible for the adverse publicity and fellow Liberal Democrat councillors today slammed members of the Labour administration for attempting to avoid the blame over the play house.

Barnoldwick councillor David Whipp said: "This has been a mid-winter pantomime and it's hard to tell if it's Coun Clifford or Ali as the back end of the pantomime horse.

"If bungling councillors from the other end of Pendle kept their noses out of Barnoldswick's business, there wouldn't have been an issue in the first place. As soon as this issue came before local councillors, we applied common sense and stopped this nonsense straight away.

"To try and shift the blame is shameful.

"Coun Bell is a hard-working and conscientious chairman, who makes sure that each and every issue is dealt with fairly for all concerned.

"Councillors Ali and Clifford owe her an apology.

"Those two jokers may be happy in their never-never land, but it's time they recognised reality."

Coun Clifford blasted Coun Whipp's comic antics over a serious matter which he said had caused the Goodwill family and their children Katie and Ben a lot of heartache.

After a complaint at the end of October, planning officers acting for the Barnoldswick Area Committee threatened the family with enforcement action because the house was too close to a main road running alongside the house.

Coun Clifford said: "No effort at any time was made by local ward councillors to talk to the Goodwills to discuss and resolve this matter.

"This led to Coun Bell asking for it to be brought to the committee which led to the adverse and negative publicity for Pendle Council.

"We have area committees to allow local issues to be decided by local people. I heard about this through the news on Monday night since which the council has received numerous phone calls as well as e-mails from across the world.

"Coun Whipp is at the heart of the community and did nothing to resolve this issue.

"He has to stop blaming others and recognise that local councillors badly mishandled this situation."