BCP Council meeting councillors in Covid voting row

The deputy leader of the Conservative-run council said the allegations were "unfounded"

An investigation has been requested after two Conservative councillors believed to have Covid voted at a tense council meeting.

Labour councillor George Farquhar said the incident at Tuesday's BCP Council meeting should be investigated by health and safety.

Opposition councillors said people were put at risk and could need testing.

But Philip Broadhead, the deputy leader of the Conservative-run council, said the allegations were "unfounded".

The BBC understands the two councillors had informed the authority's democratic services team that they had Covid.

They were then phoned during an adjournment and turned up at the meeting, at which point a row started behind closed doors.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Farquhar called it a "very reckless and irresponsible action" for "political expediency".

He said it would be reported to the Health and Safety Executive, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He added: "I have further suggested they also inform the Local Government Association and the unions so a dialogue can be started to avoid a repeat of this occurrence at other local authorities."

'Real issue'

Independent councillor Mark Howell told the meeting the rules needed to be made clear at a national level.

He said: "The Conservative group might might want to bring in members so that they can win a vote, that's perfectly legal under the current situation, but whether it is morally responsible is open to argument."

He asked if it was "going to set a precedent because Covid is not going to go away" and that it was a "real issue" that could "affect democracy".

Independent Lesley Dedman asked the council: "Can you tell us if we are in danger?"

Liberal Democrat Tony Trent called the meeting, which stopped several times during the talks off camera, "an affront to democracy".

He added: "I find it almost unbelievable the way things appear to be being manipulated."

But Mr Broadhead said: "The monitoring officer pointed out these are unfounded allegations, we don't know anything about them, that's why we are adjourning."

Councillors voted to adjourn the rest of the meeting until the next annual meeting in May.

The debate was about restructuring overview and scrutiny committee structures and functions.