Vote for any mainstream party candidates rather than the British National Party, the prime minister urged the electorate on Friday.

Speaking in Blackburn, Tony Blair said that while he hoped voters would choose the Labour Party, he would prefer that they voted for any mainstream party before extremist parties such as the BNP.

The extreme right-wing party is fielding 68 candidates for the May 2 poll, 13 of which are standing in Burnley, the scene of race riots last summer.

"We all hope that people come out and support the Labour Party but what I'm saying is that it is important for people to vote, but it is important that people don't vote for parties of extremism that make all the problems worse," he said.

"People have to think very carefully before they go out and vote. I hope they do go out and vote, I hope they vote Labour, but I hope also they vote for mainstream parties.

"The only impact of electing extremists in any area, quite apart from the impact on house prices and businesses, would be to heighten insecurity in that area."

Tony Blair told journalists that he wanted to focus on "nitty gritty everyday issues", such as law and order, in the final week of the local election campaign. He used a speech to highlight new measures that the government had set in place to tackle truancy and anti-social behaviour.

"What I have to say about all those measures is when it comes to the enforcement of law and order, we are trying to take action at every level but each measure, if I may say, have been opposed by the Conservatives and also by the Liberals," he said.

"Government and councils cannot do it all. Individuals and communities also have to play their part."

"I have no doubt at all that for people who work hard and play by the rules, the one thing they want the government to do is to work with the police and others to take the necessary measures to bear down on street crime," he added.

His speech came after he admitted during a visit to Birmingham on Thursday that a number of Labour-controlled councils were "on a knife edge" at the forthcoming election.

"I hope we can keep control of them to ensure that we have the ability to bring investment down to a local level," he said.