A LOAD of old rubbish has caused a dust up between two councils. Adlington Town Council is claiming Chorley Borough Council has backed out of a 24-year-old agreement to pay for a person to clean the village. The position was traditionally held by someone known as a Lengthsman, who not only swept up but also kept an eye on such things as vandalism and fly tipping.

But Chorley Borough Council made the Lengthsman hang up his broom and now sends a mechanical sweeper to clean up the streets.

It has incensed Adlington town councillors who say the borough had promised to keep the traditional post after it took over local government services in 1974, when Adlington Urban District Council was reduced to a town council.

Now Adlington town councillors are also alleging Chorley officials are blocking attempts to check the minutes of old meetings which would prove an agreement exists.

All the papers from the old urban council were stored away in the cellar of Chorley town hall two and a half decades ago.

Cllr Edna Shone said she had been told the records were lost but another member of the council had gone down into the cellar and found some of them.

She added: "It's going to be difficult to go through all the thousands of reports - but it could be done."

Cllr Jeanette Lowe said she had been refused permission to look for the records when she had acted on behalf of the council as town clerk.

A spokesman for Chorley Borough Council confirmed the records were held in the basement of the town hall, dating from the 1960s to 1974.

He said the records were available for anyone who booked an appointment to go and look at and there shouldn't have been a problem.

But he added the departments responsible for keeping records were not aware of being approached by anyone from Adlington Town Council.

Chorley Borough Council was not aware of Adlington's concerns about the road sweeper.

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