FOOTBALLERS' union chief Gordon Taylor has been elected chairman of the Blackburn Citizens Advice Bureau.

And the chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association has pledged to rebuild the group's links with the town's Asian community after it was suspended.

Former chairman Andrea Baker and other committee members resigned their positions in the wake of the controversy which blew up when former manager Mrs Robina Naseem, a 32-year-old mother from Burnley, had a complaint of racial discrimination upheld by a Manchester tribunal.

The National Association of the Citizens Advice Bureaux suspended the Blackburn branch after the tribunal decision.

But now Mr Taylor, who lives in Wiswell, wants to see the CAB re-assert its status in the town with a fresh start.

He said: "It is obvious there have been problems in the past but this is now a fresh start and I want to help raise morale and support the work the CAB does in the town.

"It is important that we work to make sure the CAB does not remain suspended for the sake of Blackburn and that we build up good links with the national association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. "This appointment will not interfere with my job with the PFA. It is a part time appointment, but I am more than willing to give up my time for the sake of the CAB."

The 54-year-old started his football career with Bolton Wanderers before moving on to Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Bury.

The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux said after the tribunal in January that they expected to see a shake up of the management of the Blackburn branch before its suspension could be lifted.

Volunteers have kept the CAB office running since the tribunal decision.

Meanwhile the chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques, Ahmed Sidat, has defended the Blackburn branch of the CAB and said its former chairman Mrs Baker had always been very supportive of the Asian community.

He said the council would be writing to the NACAB in support of the Blackburn branch's bid to have its suspension lifted.

Peter Turner who had been acting as temporary chairman of the CAB has stepped down but will remain a committee member.

Mrs Baker, said: "I do not agree with the findings of the tribunal. The bureau is one of the most successful multi racial agencies in the town and must be one of the most multi racial in the country.

"After 20 years service I would do nothing which could appear to harm its future.

"The good relationships I have enjoyed with people of Asian heritage have been a constant source of comfort and re-assurance to me in the two years which this dispute has taken."

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