AN historic building has been saved from the threat of closure after a row over funding was settled - but the move could lead to redundancies.

In August, local councillor Jean Rigby expressed fears that 600-year-old Turton Tower would be closed to the public because Lancashire County Council pulled out of funding it.

The Grade 1 listed building used to be within Lancashire’s jurisdiction, but since Blackburn with Darwen Council became a unitary authority in 1998 the tower has been outside the county council’s borders.

The building and grounds are formally owned by North Turton Parish Council but they have have been managed by the country council through its museums service with additional financial contributions from the parish and Blackburn with Darwen councils.

Now plans are in place for the parish council to give ownership of the tower to Blackburn with Darwen Council, which will up its contribution from £45,000 to £145,000.

Coun Rigby said: “I’m really pleased, really excited about this.

“A lot of people have been very concerned, but there is now no threat of closure whatsoever.

“Really, the borough council should have taken over three years ago when the county council decided to pull out, but we always hoped that they would want to continue.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council is now looking to reduce the £200,000 running costs of the tower by reviewing jobs and catering.

More volunteers would be used, leading to possible redundancies at the tower, and catering costs would be reconsidered as it is currently running at a loss and being covered by the budget for county council catering.

The tower would also be run as an historic house rather than an accredited museum.

Coun Rigby added: “By changing the designation of the tower, we can be more flexible.

“We want to open it up a lot more, have longer hours for the award-winning cafe.”

A condition survey carried out on the tower found that it needed repairs of about £435,000 to prevent further deterioration of its the fabric and structure and a further £148,500 contingency fund for mechanical and engineering work.

Some of this work may be part funded by applications to organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The county council is also prepared to pay a lump sum settlement towards repairs.