A Telford councillor who was mysteriously sacked from his Cabinet position last month has hit back over accusations regarding the reasons for his dismissal.
Tory councillor Denis Allen was suddenly axed from his position as Telford & Wrekin Cabinet member for community services on October 27.
Last week, Labour leader, Keith Austin alleged that Councillor Allen had come under fire for the Telford Town Park paedophile fiasco and for pledging £50,000 of council money to South Telford Rights of Way Partnership without first checking where the funding was to come from.
But this week Councillor Allen denied the accusations and said they were “disingenuous humbug.”
“The reason for my sacking, allegedly, was that I had leaked a cabinet decision. I knew that this was completely untrue and can therefore only guess at the true motives,” he said.
“The allegation by Keith Austin that I was the one who authorised routine stop checks on single people walking in the park is disingenuous humbug. Keith knows full well that this was a policy we inherited from the time of the Labour Party’s rule. I disapproved of it but l assumed, wrongly, that as the council employs so many lawyers it must be a legal policy properly approved by council.
“As to the allegation about pledging £50,000 to the South Telford Rights of Way Partnership, I have no idea where that came from. I supported their ideas but no money was offered.”
Councillor Austin has called for the Audit Commission to investigate the situation.
