Labour councillors were today urged to breathe new life into the district Neighbourhood Forums after a sharp drop in attendance figures.

The forums, which feed the views of the public to the council, drew 1,900 people in the period from May to July. The figure included more than 400 attending for the first time.

Wednesday's meeting of the Community Development Committee will be given the figures when it hears reports from officers about issues raised at the forums.

But Liberal Democrat committee member Councillor Howard Middleton said attendance figures were down by 33 per cent compared with the last three months of 1997.

Urgent action was needed to prevent the bodies losing their legitimacy as a link between the council and the community, he said.

The average attendance figures for each forum had dropped from 39 to 25. "There are worrying signs that the present round of forums may produce even lower figures. At the moment it seems Labour is happy to let them drift into poorly attended talking shops."

But committee chairman Councillor Ralph Berry said he would rather have a group of people attending who were interested in issues than a packed audience sitting there and saying nothing.

More daytime forums, youth forums and meetings for Asian women were being considered for the future.

Head of service Mark Foster will tell Thursday's meeting that among main issues of concern are speeding traffic, drugs, housing and vandalism.

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