The one council that will hold elections in May

Six of the the seven Lancashire councils due to hold elections in May will be allowed to postpone them.

The government gave the option to ask for a postponement to any councils being abolished as part of local government reorganisation if they had concerns about trying to hold elections and manage the transition.

Pendle is the only council of the seven that wrote to the government to ask for a postponement to be denied the request.

Pendle's Liberal Democrat leader David Whipp said as there were no Labour councillors in Pendle, the government -which is yet to comment on why the borough was singled out - had "nothing to lose".

Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Preston and West Lancashire will now see their elections postponed.

In a letter to council leaders, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed said: "I have listened to concerns regarding the resource pressures of running intensive elections for councils proposed for abolition shortly thereafter... I am confident that we will be releasing essential capacity within councils to allow your teams to focus their full energy on the complex reorganisation process."

Pendle's full council met earlier this month to discuss whether to ask for a postponement, and take a vote, which saw a majority in favour of postponement.

The Liberal Democrat councillors were all in favour of having elections and voted against the request to delay.

Whipp said the government decision to leave Pendle out seemed politically motivated, adding: "We've got no Labour councillors in Pendle, that's why the government have allowed the election to go ahead.

"They have nothing to lose in Pendle."

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