SWINE flu could be to blame for leaving Burnley Council struggling to meet its targets on town hall sickness absences.

Just days after it was revealed that medical staff in East Lancashire, including those at Burnley General and Pendle Community hospitals, were taking nearly 96,000 sick days, the picture for civil servants is similarly bleak.

The 570 council staff have so far notched up 4.76 days per employee as sick leave - against an annual target of 8.3 days - in the first six months of the financial year.

Even if the authority can keep the figure below nine days it will be regarded as an ‘improvement’, according to personnel director Heather Brennan.

The average number of sick days per council worker for 2006-07 was just over 11, falling to 10.4 for 2007-08.

Latest figures show 29 people were short-term absentees, since April, with cases of swine flu, or suspected infections.

Suffering from stress, anxiety and depression remains the largest single cause of longer periods away from work.

Mrs Brennan said in a report to the council’s better services scrutiny committee: “Short-term absence is continuing to persist at higher levels than seen in 2007 and 2008, which is challenging our sickness absence target for the year.”

The worst offenders include the markets and chief executive’s department, closely followed by customers services workers and leisure staff.

During the past two years housing and neighbourhood teams have had the highest overall rates for long and short-term sickness absences.

She has called upon the personnel section to investigate whether the swine flu epidemic has had a noticeable effect on the statistics.

Service heads have also been urged to ensure sickness absence reviews are properly conducted and contact is maintained with staff off with long-term conditions.

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, which had 70 per cent more sick days recorded than its target, is employing counsellors for stressed-out staff.