STAR ratings are everywhere these days purporting to show standards of service to us, the public.

They are held up as measures of the quality of hotels, staff in fast food restaurants, garages and even public loos.

But star ratings only work if the system on which they are based can be trusted by the customers who they aim to guide.

It may well be that Blackburn with Darwen Council is making great progress in some areas, particularly Education.

But while the people who run the council are patting themselves on the back that their Social Services department has been upgraded from two to three star status the verdicts of those we quote today tell a very different story.

They are frankly incredulous and furious at the praise being heaped on what are referred to as "improving services" by "independent inspectors."

That's because their own harsh experiences highlighted a vividly different operation.

They suffered grief, loss and trauma and feel serious mistakes were made which have not yet been satisfactorily addressed by those in authority.

These are the sort of experiences on which measurements of efficiency and customer service SHOULD be based - not impersonal collections of data and reports presented over coffee when the inspectors drop in.

Worryingly some of our local politicians - with one or two exceptions - seem to buy the star rating system hook, line and sinker without looking at some of the disturbing events over the last year.

It is about time that this council was exposed to a little more analytical thought.

And if we are basing star ratings on reality, the spectacular failings of Blackburn with Darwen social services over the past months would deliver a much lower star rating.