THREE Wyre Forest Worcestershire county councillors were infuriated by a newspaper report claiming the chief executive of the council had said they were not pulling their weight - a claim she has denied making.

New county council head, Trish Haines, was alleged to have said that 15 councillors, including three from Wyre Forest, needed shaking into action.

The criticism focused on councillors who did not sit on a single committee and whose only obligation was to attend six full council meetings a year at County Hall in Worcester.

It was noted that all councillors were paid a basic allowance of almost £9,000, regardless of whether they sat on any committees.

Wyre Forest Liberal Leader, Fran Oborski, had threatened Mrs Haines with legal action if a retraction was not made over the statement she was claimed to have made.

Mrs Oborski said she currently served on two scrutiny panels, represented the county council on Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority and was chairman of the corporate parenting board.

She added: “The only reason I am not on more committees is because the Tories will only give us one seat. Graham Ballinger has our party’s seat on the overview and scrutiny committee.”

Independent Community and Health Concern councillor, Jill Fairbother-Millis, said she was “appalled” by the alleged accusation.

She explained: “As the only Independent Community and Health Concern county councillor, I am not given any committee work.

“This is not because I don’t want to do it but because I am only one and, therefore, not regarded as a group.”

Labour councillor, Paul Mills, said the claims were “totally outrageous” and added that he worked hard to juggle council, professional and family life.

Mrs Haines said: "I told the overview and scrutiny steering committee that if we are to broaden the work of scrutiny in the future, the council needs to ensure that all elected members have the opportunity to get involved in areas of interest and concern to them.

“This is something that some councillors who don’t have a place on the decision-making committees find difficult to do at the moment, because there aren’t many opportunities for them.”

She added: "What I definitely did not say was that councillors don’t pull their weight, as has been suggested by headlines in another local paper.

“In fact, I acknowledged the commitment of members for working in their local areas and in other ways outside the formal committee structure of the council."