BLACKBURN MP Jack Straw has turned down a bid to temporarily stop the flood of asylum seekers into East Lancashire.

A delegation from Burnley and Pendle asked Mr Straw to suspend more arrivals, to allow time for councils to set up a co-ordinated support network for the families.

A consortium of North West authorities, including councils in East Lancashire, is expected within the next fortnight to liaise between councils and the National Asylum Seekers Services (NASS), which is responsible for most asylum applications.

"We would have liked to see a temporary halt to further placements before the consortium is up and running," said Burnley councillor Peter Kenyon, who was joined in the meeting with Mr Straw by Councillor Azhar Ali, leader of the Labour group on Pendle Council, and Burnley Council housing manager Steve Tilly.

Mr Straw said he could not call a halt to the arrivals because contracts had been agreed with private housing agencies, and because of the urgent need to ease the burden on the South East, which has been inundated with asylum seekers.

But there were positive moves from the meeting which mean asylum seekers will get a better deal in future.

The Home Secretary promised better communication between the NASS and local councils, and more advanced notice on when asylum seekers would arrive in an area.

"While we came away not entirely satisfied, I do believe we managed to get a better deal for asylum seekers in East Lancashire," added Mr Kenyon. "Mr Straw did undertake to ensure communication happens before the event rather than after it."

Pendle Council was caught "on the hop" when officers discovered asylum seekers had arrived in the area only when a man from Chad went into Morrison's supermarket and started talking in tribal language.