THE voters of Worcestershire may like to cut out and keep page four of today's Worcester News and take it with them the next time they visit the polling station.

Because anyone outraged at the fact that councillors have voted themselves a hefty 4.8 per cent pay rise will find there a handy guide to which ones have accepted the increase and who has turned it down.

Thanks to the wonders of democracy, councillors may well find their decision counts against them at the ballot box.

Let's hope it concentrates their minds a little.

No one is arguing with the principle that councillors deserve to be remunerated for their efforts.

But why should their allowances rise by more than twice the amount they have allowed Worcestershire's hard-working council staff?

Not only does it not make sense fiscally for a cash-strapped local authority to authorise such an increase, but it's a PR disaster.

Voters will see the increase in councillors' allowances against the background of the £18 million cuts in services planned by Worcestershire, and will simply assume that the money which should be spent on ordinary people is going into councillors' pockets instead.

Any pay rise, or lack of one, should apply across the board - to councillors as well as staff.

Perhaps it's because they've got the latest round of local elections out of the way that councillors feel safe in authorising this increase.

But the voters of Worcestershire will remember this slap in the face the next time they cast their ballots - and we'll be only to happy to remind them.