A POLITICAL war of words has broken out in Rossendale after Labour MPs branded Rossendale Council a "shambles" for axeing local services.

Today, Janet Anderson accused council chiefs of squandering extra financial help it had received from the Government and called on them to get a grip on the situation.

Tory council chiefs hit back and said it was "sad political sniping" as tough decisions had to be made to help modernise services in the Valley.

But the Rossendale MP, alongside Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, who has some responsibilities in Rossendale, challenged council leaders to account for decisions to reduce services for people in the valley.

Mrs Anderson said: "Rossendale Council is now a shambles.

"The Town Hall has been closed. Staff have been relocated to Futures Park at a significant cost to the council tax payers of Rossendale.

"The planning department has moved to the old town hall site next to the so-called One Stop Shop while the rest of the building is empty.

"The Tourist Office is set to close in three months' time. Whitworth, Waterfoot and Haslingden Neighbourhood offices are closed, and the future of the Bacup Neighbourhood Office is now in question.

"I cannot understand why we should be facing such a huge reduction in services to the people of the valley when the Labour Government has increased their funding."

But the leader of Rossendale Council, Duncan Ruddick, said: "The outburst from Janet Anderson and Greg Pope has more to do with panic about the local elections in May than anything else. Under a Conservative led admin-istration, the council's customer satisfaction rating has gone from 27 per cent to 62 per cent.

"They have also commented about various accommodation changes but the fact is that we have had over 1,000 visits to our One Stop Shop since it opened in December last year."

He said there had been no cuts in services and accused the pair of staying silent on Lancashire County Council cuts -- last week it was revealed that Waterfoot Library was under threat --because the authority is led by a Labour administration.

A Parliamentary question tabled by Mr Pope to the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that Rossendale had received substantial increases in central government funding.