Housing landlords will be consulted by the council with a view to relaunching a controversial landlord licensing scheme.

The selective licensing programme which was introduced by the previous council was thrown out by a high court judge who found that the council had failed to properly consult with landlords in east and west Accrington.

Hyndburn council was also ordered to pay £100,000 in legal costs during the hearing in June.

At a Hyndburn Cabinet meeting last week, councillors agreed to carry out consultation and research procedures to decide whether to proceed with a new selective licensing designation which aims to improve the standards of private landlords.

Speaking at the meeting deputy council leader Clare Pritchard said: "The private rental sector performs a vital role and it’s important the council works positively with landlords to ensure our residents have appropriate standards of housing.

"I have already met with private landlords a few weeks ago and we propose to set up a landlord forum to engage with people. We need to get the best deal for everybody."

Tory council leader Peter Britcliffe added: "I think we need to learn by our mistakes and it might be an idea to go back to the drawing board on this and meet with the landlords and get going with this.

"There are tenants out there now who aren’t being protected because we slipped up and it’s not doing any good for people in the rented sector."

Officers will report the findings of the consultation to the cabinet on November 23 – and any specific proposals would then be consulted upon in detail.

Paul Brown, spokesman for the Hyndburn Landlords action group, said he hoped the council would enter into discussions with ‘an open mind’.

He said: "We are looking forward to entering into dialogue with the council and we have many suggestions of moving things forward and that will include a phased selective licensing scheme.

"I hope they enter it with an open mind and through consultation we can introduce something that will work to benefit everybody

"There are certain areas within Hyndburn that we would like to see licensing because in theory it is supposed to improve the standards of an area."