A COUNCIL at the centre of an expenses fiasco has revealed some councillors had claimed twice for attending meetings.

The revelation came as councillors were told some £17,400 over-claimed by members of Hyndburn Council over the last 12 months has been written off by deputy prime minister John Prescott in his role as secretary of state for the regions.

Council chief executive Mike Chambers told members of the policy and resources committee the Government has given permission to sanction most of the over-payments because they had been made in good faith.

But some £2,600 will need repaying -- partly because several councillors had claimed for meetings twice.

Controversy erupted in October when it was revealed members of the cabinet had been claiming for attending the meeting, even though it was a one-party group, for which allowances can't be claimed.

An investigation revealed £20,000 had been over-claimed over the last year, due mainly to the fact many councillors were attending and claiming for meetings which should have been on a list of "approved duties" but weren't.

Mr Chambers told councillors: "Because there has been no intention to misappropriate council money and because this situation has arisen out of a failure by the council to check expenses properly, the government has agreed to sanction most of the money.

"But some of it cannot be sanctioned. One-party meetings are not approved duties and cannot become them, nor can meetings with officers.

"In some cases, claims had been made twice for the same meeting."

A part-time officer has been employed by the council to check future claims, while a full list of approved duties has been published.

Mayoress Sandra Hayes said: "What we should all remember is that we are not here for the money, but for the good of the community."