THE chairman of a council committee has been labelled a 'tinpot dictator' by political rivals as a row escalates over a McDonald's planning application.

Labour councillors Sarah Hill and Tim Ormrod have written to Pendle Council boss Stephen Barnes complaining about the overbearing attitude of leading Liberal Tony Greaves.

They claim he broke council rules by not allowing a councillor to speak during a debate on a controversial planning application to build a McDonald's drive-through restaurant in Colne.

The argument centres over whether councillors who do not sit on a committee should be allowed to speak at the meeting.

Before the last meeting of Colne area committee its chairman, Coun Greaves, wrote to Coun Hill.

He said: "Councillors from other areas will usually only be given permission to speak on an item on which they have a genuine local interest."

He added: "I will not call any councillor who is not a member of the committee to speak on general issues which cannot be spoken on at central committees or on local issues where there is not a clearly legitimate local interest.

"Such interventions in my view waste the committee's time and abuse council procedures."

Coun Greaves argued that Colne Labour councillors could debate any issue without colleagues from other areas taking part.

But Couns Hill and Ormrod have now written to Mr Barnes claiming the move goes against council rules which say any councillor can speak at any committee.

"What is Councillor Greaves afraid of?" asks the letter. "He should play by the rules, just like every other committee chairman.

"We cannot allow the public affairs of Colne to be run by this tinpot dictator."

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