A councillor expelled for 'not attending meetings' may have been wrongly dismissed from her seat.

Tamara King was publicly disqualified from Stretton Parish Council at an extraordinary meeting in the village on April 30. Twenty residents attended.

Chairman Coun Greg Harker said: "It gives me no pleasure, but I am forced to disqualify Coun Tamara King from the parish council for non-attendance over a period of six months.

"This means that we will be required to hold an election which may well cost us £2,100 or a quarter of our precept, a contingency that we did not budget for."

But after her dismissal, Miss King said: "The six month rule is simply not applicable because I gave my apologies for my non-attendance at the September meeting as I am required to do, and the minutes of that meeting state: 'Apologies of absence were received from Cllr T King. It was RESOLVED to accept these apologies unanimously'"

Stretton Parish Council minutes show Miss King attended parish meetings on May 23 last year and on March 7 this year.

For agenda item '2023-37' of the council's meeting on September 21 last year, the minutes published state: "Apologies of absence were received from Cllr T King. It was RESOLVED to accept these apologies unanimously."

The Local Government Act 1972 says when a council member fails to attend any meeting for six consecutive months, they cease to be a member of the authority, unless the council accepts a reason for the failure to attend before the six months period expires.

Rutland County Council, which has a monitoring officer to oversee complaints about councillors, said: "The parish's minutes of meetings show that the individual concerned attended a meeting in June 2023 and then not again until March 2024.

"According to the minutes, the parish council did not approve the reason for failure to attend."

Several villagers in Stretton have contacted the county council to ask why the matter has been allowed to go as far as it has, but they have not received any reply.

Lee Overton wrote an email to the monitoring officer that said: "Having looked into the details of Miss King recently being expelled from Stretton Parish Council, it would seem prima facie that due process has not been followed according to the Local Government Act 1972.

"Miss King was automatically expelled due to nonattendance to any parish council meetings within a 6 month period which, taken on its own, would statutorily be correct.

"…but Miss King attended a parish council meeting as recently as March 7, 2024. Clearly within the statutory 6 month period."

"This is local politics at its very worst," said fellow Stretton resident Kevin Hawkes.

"There are personality clashes going on in the background at the council, forcing Tamara out."

Miss King, who is a single mother and in the Army, was elected on May 4 last year.

Since then another parish councillor has resigned and the parish clerk, Deborah Rolfe, has handed in her resignation.

Potential election expenses for Stretton include £460 on ballot papers and additional costs to open the church, which is used as a community hub.

An election announcement is due, with potential candidates given until May 16 to say they are standing.

The election is provisionally scheduled for June 13.