One of the key criticisms levelled at a Lancashire council in the wake of riots in the town is being addressed, bosses claim.

Burnley Borough Council will appoint a new director of communications following a report into the riots in 2001.

Lord Tony Clarke's Task Force Report criticised the council for failing effectively to distribute information.

He recommended the authority to set up a professional corporate communications unit.

BNP councillors

The report stressed the council has to communicate effectively to white people its spending on projects for ethnic minorities in the town.

More than a year after the report was published, the council has appointed Gerry Crookes as its head of communications.

Ms Crookes, who is currently a senior public relations officer at Leeds City Council, will take on the new job on Monday.

Three British National Party members were elected to the council last year.

Lord Ouseley, former chairman of the Campaign for Racial Equality, said it was a "severe chill factor" for the area's community relations.

But BNP leader Nick Griffin called the result a "triumph".