A WOTTON councillor has lashed out at the county council - slamming them for charging for jobs "they should already be doing".

Stroud District Councillor for Wotton Paul Smith said he was "disgusted" that Gloucestershire County Council were sending price lists for jobs he considered to be already within their remit.

The matter arose at a Wotton Town Council meeting, of which Cllr Smith is also a member, as they discussed the county council's charge of £350 per day for weed spraying in the town.

WTC met on Monday, January 19, and, in the course of the meeting, came to the decision of whether they should employ a weed sprayer from the county council, train somebody themselves or hire an independent contractor.

They referred, in their discussion, to a list of "top up products" sent out by the county council, which includes weed spraying, weed ripping, hand salt spreading, gully emptying, transport monitoring, as well as other jobs relating to highways.

On the list they offer a "trained contractor" who can spray unsightly weeds at a cost of £350 per day. They note that this pays for gang, vehicle and equipment needed for the job.

As the council erred on the side of seeking an alternative to the county council, Cllr Paul Smith entered the discussion with some strong words.

"While I appreciate that the county council have had cut backs I think the whole procedure of sending out price lists for jobs they should already be doing is an utter disgrace and I am disgusted," he said.

"I want nothing to do with it."

Several other councillors appeared to support Cllr Smith's comments.

He continued: "It's a joke - a complete joke. If they're going to charge for things like this we're simply going to go elsewhere and find someone else to do it."

The scheme Mr Smith referred to was launched by the county council in 2011 with the name “Highways - Your Way”.

It is comprise of three elements: community action, community match and community top-up. Community top-up is the aspect that sees the council offer services and items that they can be bought from them directly, like extra gully cleaning or traffic monitoring services.

Cabinet member for highways Cllr Vernon Smith said: “The Highways – Your Way scheme has been running successfully for four years. It offers community groups like parish and town councils and residents associations the opportunity to request extra services if they want them, while we continue to provide the essential services like serious road repairs, gully cleaning, winter maintenance and street lighting.

“Many councils or groups use this scheme for a range of things, for example buying hand spreaders in winter, where we pay half the cost of the spreader and supply the salt, or increasing the amount of grass cutting which takes place.”

To find out more about Highways - Your Way visit gloucestershire.gov.uk.