A recommendation to ensure the town clerk has the discretion to charge for public access to some Keihghley Town Council documents was described as “scandalous” by Cllr Samuels.

This formed part of a proposal for the council to accept a publication scheme under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act.

Cllr Wright had recommended a charge of up to £10 per document and up to £1 per sheet could be levied if the clerk believed it necessary.

He stressed this was to discourage repeated requests from people wanting to cause a nuisance, or to meet the costs incurred when people demanded unusually large documents. He warned: “Someone could ask for a document 200 pages long and they could ask for more than one copy. This could use up a lot of staff time.”

Cllr Samuels said it was wrong to expect people to pay for information which should be in the public domain.

The proposal was carried but four councillors voted against it.