WRANGLING at a town council has reached such a level that the clerk made a public statement calling on members to toe the line.

Nicola Weatherall told Shaftesbury councillors that they needed to behave properly if they wanted to keep staff and serve the town effectively.

At an extraordinary meeting of the town council Mrs Weatherall emphasised her independence and that of her assistant.

"There is not and cannot be any question or suggestion of allegiance to any group or councillor, political or otherwise," she said.

"As proper officers we follow procedure as set down by statute, standing orders and financial regulations.

"There is no question of these procedures being either abandoned, subverted or allowed to be altered through undue influence or manipulation.

"It is vitally important that the clerks and councillors understand each other's roles and responsibilities and work together as a team.

"Failure to do so will inevitably cause frustrating meetings, delayed decision making, poor service, disgruntled parishioners and high turnover of staff."

Mrs Weatherall told the Daily Echo it was an effort to refocus members and encourage teamwork.

Cllr Richard Thomas said: "There are well-known and long-standing internal feuds within Shaftesbury town council. It's an open secret and it's holding a lot of things back.

"There are a lot of very good groups doing very good things in this town but they are not being served by the town council."

Mr Thomas praised Mrs Weatherall as "a bright, intelligent, personable" woman who knew what she was doing.

"I respect her views hugely," he added.

"Members have got to look to themselves to mend fences."

Deputy mayor Pam Reynolds said people were not keeping the town clerk informed of what they were doing.

Former town clerk Sandra Elcock left unexpectedly last year and the current assistant town clerk is leaving shortly.

First published: October 5