By Gemma Bradley AN online petition calling for a breakaway from Blackburn with Darwen Council for Darwen has passed the halfway point of its goal of 5,000 signatures. Darwen Town independence, on change.org, has been signed by 2,550 people but Dexit — as it has become affectionately known in recent years — has been on people’s minds for a lot longer. Almost as soon as Blackburn and Darwen merged in 1974, Darwen residents claimed that they were being ‘left behind’ and their wishes ignored. This most recent petition is at least the fourth in the past 20 years, often appearing after a new controversial decision by the borough council, such as recent planning applications for new houses to be built in Darwen in Pole Lane and Ellison Fold Way.