LABOUR leaders have furiously defended their decision to sell off a Lowry painting and slammed their town hall critics as hypocrites.

With just eight days to go until A River Bank is auctioned at Christie's, they said it was a choice between cuts in jobs and services versus one oil painting.

The council needs to raise £500,000 to balance the budget, and hopes for a further £421,000 to meet the shortfall on the overspent new Ramsbottom library.

Bosses denounced their political opponents for criticising the sale without putting forward alternatives or, indeed, voting against it.

"This is not something we want to be doing," council leader Wayne Campbell told members at the full council meeting last week. "Nobody wanted to sell the painting. We were put into a position where we felt we had to do it.

"We forget about the 50 people who lost their jobs in the cuts we made last year. Nobody asks questions about these people, only about the painting.

"How many people would we have to get rid of if we had not put the Lowry forward? What would be the consequences for services we provide? That's why we took the decision, we felt it was better than the consequences of not selling it."

Coun Campbell added: "We agreed to the sale in February. We have had many council meetings since then, and not once has any member of this council put forward any alternative other than to go to the newspapers to gripe about it. This council is now hung, so the opposition cannot hide. They have the right to overturn any decisions we have made: they cannot just attack the decisions when they can put it right.

"I find it very hypocritical to attack us when they are in a position to do something about it, and they have done nothing. They have to be honest with the public: they know the consequences of having to find another half-million of savings."

Tory leader Bob Bibby said: "Just because we abstained, it doesn't mean we support the sale of the Lowry."

But the leader then turned his wrath on the Museums Association, which has threatened to strip Bury of its accredited status for selling its assets. Bury would become only the second council to be so sanctioned.

"If we had closed the art gallery half the week, we would never have had the threat of our registration being withdrawn," he said. "How bad is that? They would be happy for the public not to see the art we have here. Northerners! What do we know about art?! I find that quite hypocritical. It's quite easy for these art experts in the south to be telling us how to manage our art. The money they have, they don't have the problems we have."

Coun Tim Chamberlain told the meeting that, if Bury art gallery was deregistered, it would lose up to £25,000 in grants. This would hit the gallery's educational activities, and the council would have to seek external funding to keep it going.

In response to Tory member Peter Redstone, Coun Campbell said that Ramsbottom library was not part of the original decision to sell. "The figure we put forward was half a million pounds. Later, the problem with Ramsbottom library arose and the shortfall. We were not prepared, at this late stage, to mothball the library. We believe the additional money from the sale of the Lowry should be enough to offset the difference, so the people of Ramsbottom get a facility in their town."

Lowry's painting has been valued by Christie's at between £500,000 and £800,000, and Bury has put a reserve price of £500,000 on it.

Coun Michael Hankey said that the auction house was selling several Lowry paintings that day, at substantially lower guide prices, and wanted to know what would happen if Bury's painting did not meet its reserve.

"The alternative is the same as if we overspend on any budget," said Coun Campbell. "We will have to revisit the resources we have to find it. But we are confident that it will hit its reserve figure."