"A MONUMENTAL cock-up" is how Earby councillor Doris Haigh described a sequence of events that led to the demolition of a building earmarked for a new use in the town.

The former community centre at Earby's North Holme estate was due to be dismantled and moved piece by piece to the Recreation Ground, off Skipton Road, where it would have a new life as sports changing facilities.

But this week the old building was demolished, dumped and burned after Pendle Council officers allegedly forgot to arrange for its removal then told the developer it wasn't needed.

Coun Haigh said she was "absolutely seething" at the events after months of work and negotiations on the scheme to move the building.

She added that the company developing the site of the former centre was unhappy. Having had the extra expense of preparing the building for removal, they then had to pay for its disposal.

Part of the North Holme estate, known locally as The Ranch, is being developed by established local firm Cawder Construction.

As part of the planning permission to build new houses on the site of the old community centre, the firm agreed to provide a brand new centre elsewhere on the estate and has now done that job.

Meanwhile, land at "The Rec", off Skipton Road, was being redeveloped as a football field for local junior teams, the only stumbling block being the lack of any changing facilities on the site.

It was realised that because the old community centre was a prefabricated building it could - depending on its condition - be dismantled and eventually reassembled at The Rec.

Cawder Construction agreed to dismantle the building rather than simply demolish it, and to give two weeks' notice to the council so it could arrange for the removal.

That notice was duly given and the building should have been removed on Monday after work was carried out over the weekend to make it ready.

Coun Haigh mentioned that news in passing to a Pendle Council officer during a meeting on a separate issue on Monday morning.

But she was horrified when the officer replied that arrangements to remove the building had not been made.

Hasty phone calls followed, alerting Pendle's service manager for parks, Colin Patten.

He had overseen the improvements to The Rec and been involved with testing the feasibility of moving the building.

He quickly arranged for the partly dismantled building to be inspected and its condition assessed, then sought and won approval from the council's chief executive, Stephen Barnes, to remove the building and put it in temporary storage in Nelson.

But in the meantime, Cawder Construction, trying to find out what was going on, contacted another department of the council and was allegedly advised that the building was not needed and could be demolished. Reluctantly, it did just that.

When Pendle Council's Executive Committee met on Wednesday, Coun Haigh's husband, Tim Haigh - who has also been closely involved with the scheme to move the building - raised the matter during public question time, outlining the series of events.

He told members that from a moral standpoint and to restore credibility with the people of Earby, the very least the council could now do was to provide a suitable building on The Rec within a set timescale.

He even suggested the money for such a facility could be found from the salary of whoever was responsible for advising that the old community centre was not needed.

Mr Haigh said the council had let down the people of Earby who had been trying to organise a sensible and practical solution to a local problem.

After some heated debate, Executive members ordered a full investigation into what had gone on, with the results to be made public.