Cornwall Council leaders will close its Brussels office

Council leader Linda Taylor said there was no longer a need for a Brussels office

Cornwall Council's new Conservative leaders have announced they will close the council's Brussels office.

Ahead of the local elections in May, the Conservatives made closing the office a key manifesto pledge but critics have labelled the move "anti-business".

Council leader Linda Taylor said they believed there was no longer a need for it after Brexit.

The office will close in September and will save the council £25,000 a year.

The Brussels office was funded in a partnership between the council, the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and Combined Universities in Cornwall, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

Staff at the office were responsible for ensuring the delivery of EU-funded projects and forging links with other partner organisations in Europe.

Ms Taylor said: "Decisions are no longer made in Brussels and closing the Cornwall Brussels Office reflects this shift with decision making now resting firmly in the UK.

"Closing the office allows us to free up funds to invest in our local economy and deliver on our promise to spend Cornish taxpayers money wisely."

Opposition councillors questioned the timing of the announcement ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall this week, with Loic Rich, leader of the Independent group, saying it came "just at a time when the eyes of the world are on Cornwall".

"The Conservatives in charge at Cornwall Council, within weeks of getting power, have shut down our only international offices," he added.

Tim Dwelly, opposition spokesman for the economy, said the council's presence in Brussels was "tiny" and "there to help support Cornish fishermen exporting to Europe".

He added: "It is a petty and anti-business announcement but not one that, frankly, surprises me."