IF EVER a town destroyed too much of its heritage, it was Blackburn in the 1960s' rush to redevelop.

But, it seems, the lesson of that mistake has not been learned.

For now the council is actually contemplating shutting the country's first textile museum.

Amazingly, this is to save the paltry sum of £10,000.

Such philistinism is hard to credit - when textiles and its history are at the very core of our region's heritage.

Not only that, the Lewis Textile Museum is a prime educational resource, used and needed by schools across East Lancashire.

Furthermore, it was given to Blackburn as a museum. It would be both a breach of trust and gross civic vandalism to destroy it.

But what lies behind this move?

Surely, the "saving" of just £10,000 out of the council's budget of £136million cannot be the only reason.

Is it, as we hear, that the swelling bureaucracy of the new unitary council wants the building for offices?

Or is there a more sinister motive - that of selling off a prime site?.

This property was not donated to Blackburn to become a town hall office block. Nor was it given as an asset to be flogged off for profit.

The council never had a mandate for throwing the town's heritage away - so it should not be repeating that crass folly of the sixties.

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