PARKS in Blackburn and Darwen are being neglected and council money wasted, according to a report into how the borough's open spaces are run.

The report, written by a council scrutiny committee, also found that the council had no overall strategy and was mismanaging parks. It adds: "There is a concern that the parks of the borough have been left on the back burner of policy development and they have suffered from limited resource allocations.

"There is a clear need to address this issue and to develop clear plans for their future so that no external funding opportunities are missed."

But a council spokesman said £1.2million was allocated to parks during 2003/04.

Some £3.3million of Government cash is also being poured into parkland in the next financial year.

Blackburn with Darwen's community and personal overview and scrutiny committee called the council's spokesman for parks, Councillor Kate Hollern, into their meeting to hand over the report and its recommendations.

Chairman of the committee councillor Ashley Whalley said: "We now have a window of opportunity. One thing that concerns me is that while we have these assets we do not have an overall strategy for them.

"The way that parks operate leads me to believe we can make better use of what we have got.

"There is a very clear feeling that more could be got out of our budget and that the money is available to change the direction of our parks.

"We need to see parks as outdoor activity spaces rather than the familiar Victorian idea of what parks should be used for. Blackburn is in a good position to break the mould."

Problems highlighted during the meeting included overgrowing plants and shrubbery and dilapidated children's play facilities.

Corporation Park in Blackburn, Bold Venture Park in Darwen, Queen's Park in Blackburn and Witton Park in Blackburn were all said to have suffered some problems.

The committee reports also called on the council to make better use of volunteer groups which, they claimed, were being neglected.

Fellow committee member Coun Kevin Connor added: "Support groups do not work for the council, they are doing it for themselves and their community and their parks. We need to make sure that our parks are secured for future generations and stop neglecting them."

Jack Yates, chairman of Queen's Park Supporters' Group, echoed the report's findings. He said: "When we formed we drew up an action plan which is still on a shelf somewhere.

"Most people in the group are despondent because we are working hard to try and get things done and get the money spent we have got through grants. Our relationship with the council is very poor and nothing ever gets finished."

Dennis Gillibrand, a member of Friends of Sunnyhurst Woods, said his group had raised more than £30,000 since its inception in 1999 but was frustrated by the council. He added: "We have been let down badly by the council.

"We think they are failing in their duties."

The report was written despite the council recently securing a multi-million pound Lottery grant which is being spent regenerating parts of Corporation Park and Witton Park being commended by an open spaces group.

Coun Hollern said: "I accept what has been said because I think it is so important. Some of the things that have been achieved by the Corporation park user group are amazing.

"It is important for people to feel that parks belong to them. It is easy to throw money at anything, but ownership is they key.

"It is not about money it is about using the resources we have got in the best way, but we have an awful long way to go."

Coun Hollern took the report away to study its findings and recommendations and is due to report back to the committee's next meeting in March.