A ROW has erupted over the allocation of committee seats and chairmanships on the new-look Ribble Valley Council.

Jubilant Tories tightened their grip on the council at the May 1 elections, winning 22 of its 40 seats. The Liberal Democrats won 15, with the remaining three going to independents Jim Rogerson and Doreen Bailey, and lone Labour man John McGowan.

But angry Liberal Democrats have branded council leader Chris Holtom high-handed, after he awarded chairmanship of the council's overview and scrutiny resources committee to a fellow Tory.

The committee looks at decisions made by the all-important policy and finance committee and chairmanship is traditionally taken up by a member of the opposition party.

Chairmanships of the council's seven committees have all been awarded to Tories, except the overview committee, which will be chaired by a Liberal Democrat.

Billington councillor Graham Sowter has been ousted in favour of new Langho councillor Stan Taylor.

Lone Labour member Coun McGowan, who has been a councillor for 13 years, has also lost his membership of the housing and parish council liaison committees.

Coun McGowan said Labour voters in Ribble Valley had been denied a voice and accused the ruling Tory group of trying to silence him.

"I have been a member of this council for thirteen years and offered a seat on one committee. All the people who voted for me have now been denied a voice.

"This is an insult to Labour voters in Clitheroe and a Tory ploy to keep me quiet. Democracy will only be used on this council when it suits Chris Holtom," he said.

Coun Sowter said: "This is about the rights of minorities. We can't have proper scrutiny of council decisions by the ruling group.

"The ruling Conservative group has demeaned democracy and acted against the spirit of how scrutiny committees are meant to operate."

"A gentleman's agreement that this committee will always be chaired by a member of the opposition party in the best interests of the electorate has been broken."

The composition of committees is decided by dividing the total number of seats available (82) by the number of councillors (40).

This gives 45 seats to the Tories and 31 to the Liberal Democrats, with the remaining six divided between the Independents and lone Labour Coun McGowan.

Coun Holtom said: "We went to great care and consideration to ensure the needs and aspirations of all members were met and I'm very sorry John McGowan does not think this is the case.

"My generous, open-handed and conciliatory method is far better than the methods I've heard employed by other councils to decide committee membership. The fact is we won the election and that changes things."

Coun McGowan said he intended raising the matter for further debate at the next full council meeting on in July.