A ROW has flared over claims that councillors broke the rules when they took a decision that cost taxpayers more than £70,000.

Critics claim that a Hampshire town clerk was sacked by a three-man sub-committee that had no power to make the decision.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Andrew Rimmer was dismissed by Lymington and Pennington Town Council in 2008 after a prolonged period of ill-health.

He successfully sued the authority for unfair dismissal and received a £62,000 pay-out, but legal costs left the council facing a total bill of £71,000.

The sub-committee included Councillor Jan Hawker, who is now Mayor of Lymington, and Councillor Martina Humber, who was mayor at the time.

Previously confidential minutes released by the council suggest that the panel should have met Mr Rimmer and reported back to the full council, which would have decided what action to take.

However, they show that the sub-committee fired Mr Rimmer without consulting other members.

The revelation has left Cllr Hawker and Cllr Humber facing calls to resign. The third member of the panel, Jan Harber, has already left the council.

Councillor Mike Thorp criticised the trio at a full meeting of the authority.

Cllr Thorp, who acted as a witness for Mr Rimmer at the employment tribunal, said: “One councillor has resigned and I believe the other two should do the same.”

However Cllr Hawker refused to stand down and said the rules were capable of more than one interpretation.

She said: “The sub-committee acted in good faith at all times, with legal advice all the way through the process.

“One interpretation (of the minutes) is that members of the sub-committee were given the authority to deal with the issues surrounding Mr Rimmer’s illness.

“As far as they were concerned, that was the premise they were working under.”

Cllr Humber declined to comment.