JUST one in three Rossendale residents are happy with the services they receive, according to a new survey.

The survey run by the council revealed that only 35 percent of people from the borough were happy with the council run services which is significantly lower' than the national average.

But the figures show that this figure represents an increase from a survey three years ago when only 27 percent of Rossendale residents were happy with their services.

A significant improvement was noted in anti-social behaviour, with only 35 per cent of residents being concerned about this compared to 50 per cent in 2003.

The report also noted that nearly 70 per cent of people in the borough thought that the council treated all types of residents fairly and were pleased with the way that the council deals with complaints.

Rossendale residents thought the most important factors in making the borough a good place to live were low crime rates and clean streets and bin collections.

And said that the things they most wanted to be improved were more activities for teenagers, better street cleanliness and the waste collection service.

The report said: "We are disappointed in the drop in the percentage of people satisfied with waste collection. However it is due in main to the introduction of alternative weekly collections in 2003 and 2004. But as a result of the alternative weekly collections our recycling rates have increased from 15 per cent to in 2003 to 29 per cent in 2007. "

Leader of the council Duncan Ruddick said that the survey showed they were moving in the right direction.

He said: "We still have a way to go improving council services but the findings of the survey show that things are on the up for the borough.

"Crime rates have dropped significantly with the borough having some of the best crime reduction rates in England.

"The council has made improvements to help reduce vandalism and anti-social behaviour and general crime initiatives seem to be working but it is difficult to totally prevent one off attacks."