  The dynamics of perfect fluid spacetime geometries which exhibit {\em Local
Rotational Symmetry} (LRS) are reformulated in the language of a $1+\,3$
"threading" decomposition of the spacetime manifold, where covariant fluid and
curvature variables are used. This approach presents a neat alternative to the
orthonormal frame formalism. The dynamical equations reduce to a set of
differential relations between purely scalar quantities. The consistency
conditions are worked out in a transparent way. We discuss their various
subcases in detail and focus in particular on models with higher symmetries
within the class of expanding spatially inhomogeneous LRS models, via a
consideration of functional dependencies between the dynamical variables.
