THE EIGHT "super councillors" who will run Blackburn town hall will see their expenses rise under the controversial new political system.

A special panel set up to decide a new method of payments following the shake-up at the council has publicly announced its findings.

The changes will see a cabinet of eight councillors making key recommendations in the borough.

The independent review panel has decided the 62 members of Blackburn with Darwen Council will share almost £400,000, with the largest slice going to the eight executive councillors.

Two years ago around £300,000 was paid out in expenses but following the shake-up in the political system at the town hall the new system will cost an extra £91,000.

Council leader Malcolm Doherty will be able to claim £19,560 under the new rules and his deputies Gail Barton and Bill Taylor £14,200 each. Every councillor will be able to claim a minimum of £3,900 a year compared to £3,246 last year. The highest paid councillor in the year ending March 1999 was Malcolm Doherty who claimed £17,480 as leader. The deputy leaders of the Labour group claimed around £13,000 each under the old system.

Councillors saw their expenses take a sharp increase three years ago when Blackburn with Darwen won unitary status.

Ian Woolley, the chairman of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care Trust, chaired the independent panel. He said: "The council gave us quite specific guidance that for this year, the scheme should be broadly within existing budgets and the attendance allowance -- payment for attending meetings --should be in line with government proposals. Whilst it is difficult to know exactly how the system will actually work, we were advised of its key elements and have redistributed the existing budget across the new responsibilities."

A final decision on the new system will be made when the full council meets in August.