MANY people find it confusing trying to work out which local authorities provide what services - and that's without the re-organisation threatened by any introduction of regional government.

In East Lancashire, unless you are within the unitary boundary of Blackburn with Darwen, some services are carried out by your local borough and others, like education and social services, by Lancashire County Council.

But if that isn't puzzling enough, people living in the Ribble Valley have another local government tier to contend with - parish councils which levy their own precepts.

Now an investigation has been launched into why many people may have been paying twice for some services for 30 years since the last big local government reorganisation!

Maintenance of children's playgrounds, graveyards, community halls, car parks and public buildings are all services which some parish councils charge for but which are also included in borough council tax bills.

The anomaly needs to be ironed out quickly because it is unfair that people in some villages should be paying twice for the same function.

But it is likely to also mean that other taxpayers will have to dig deeper to balance the books if services are to stay at present levels across the borough.