FEARS that councillors cannot afford to maintain and repair council homes after controversially voting to keep them have been played down.

Ribble Valley councillors have been told the decision to not sell its housing stock has left the authority in a 'serious position' due to its apparent failure to meet the cost of maintaining them.

The shortfall emerged in a verbal report given to councillors by Ribble Valley's director of community services John Heap.

He told them they needed to find a way to bridge the gap between what they needed to do - and what they can afford to do. But councillors this week played down the report, saying it was an interim assessment of an ongoing process.

The authority came under the spotlight in August last year when it voted to retain its 1,255 homes, instead of selling them to a registered social landlord. This was despite both a consultants' report and a jury of tenants recommending the council transfer the stock.

At the time, council leader John Hill branded it the "worst decision in the council's history".

Now the Conservative leader has moved to allay fears the authority wouldn't be able to properly maintain the homes.

He said: "It's not as clear cut as saying we can't afford it.

"This was only an interim report and, while things are not looking so good at the moment, let's not pre-empt what the final position might be.

"It's likely that an officers' report will go before next month's full council meeting and then a decision can be taken on whether to accept the business plan, or go back to the tenants and start the whole exercise again."

Lib Dem councillor David Berryman, also on the housing committee, said: "It is obviously a concern, but we have just passed a budget which went into surplus for the current year. I do not accept that we can't have a plan that is signed off by the government."