Plaid Cymru £446k pay-off for Mark James is 'a disgrace'

A potential £446,000 pay-off for a Carmarthenshire council boss has been branded "a disgrace".

Plaid Cymru MP Jonathan Edwards and AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas both criticised the reported figure in a possible deal for chief executive Mark James.

The Labour group, which controls the council with the Independents, has said it will not support any severance package for Mr James.

He was one of two council chiefs who received payments deemed unlawful.

Labour councillor for Carmarthenshire Calum Higgins said any severance package "would not be in the interest of the tax payer".

"It's not something we would do for the ordinary worker in the county, so why should we do it for the chief executive?"

He added that Mr James should "either stay in his post or resign as any normal employee would".

Assistant chief executive for the council Paul Thomas said: "We are currently in the process of considering the severance applications, with a view to releasing eligible applicants at the end of March 2015".

A police inquiry into the payments found no evidence to suggest a criminal offence had occurred