THREE Cleobury Mortimer parish councillors walked out of this week's council meeting and were joined by a fourth member in a mass resignation.

Discontentment over the running of the council and "back biting" over a massive overspend on the controversial restoration of the town's market hall were blamed for the split.

Past chairman, Adrian Pearce, and Jim Reynolds, who had both been councillors since 1999, quit along with Claire Todd, saying they were "totally frustrated and not prepared to waste any more valuable time achieving very little for the town."

Donald Carter resigned through a letter read out at the meeting, citing family reasons, leaving just five councillors to run the council until new appointments could be made, either through co-opting or elections.

Mr Pearce and Mr Reynolds accused the current chairman, Donald Griffiths, of failing to seek a consensus of opinion and dealing with issues on his own.

"A lot of procedures have had the edges blurred. Things have been done over-informally and by cutting corners, leaving us open to criticism," claimed Mr Pearce.

He said personal attacks against him by some members of the council concerning the overspend on the market hall restoration, which was the subject of an Audit Commission investigation, had also contributed to his resignation.

Mr Pearce was chairman from 1999 until the 2003 elections and was at the helm when the market hall project was undertaken.

Initial estimates for the building cost of around £245,000 rose to £319,000 and other costs, including architects' fees, saw the total spiral to around £400,000, although some of the increases were disputed.

"I feel relieved that I have made the decision not to go on with the council but sad that the things achieved in four years are being twisted and distorted," added Mr Pearce.

Mr Griffiths, who became chairman in 2003, hit back at the criticisms, saying that an inherited £90,000 debt had been turned into a £37,000 credit.

"We are well able to run our council within our means," he said.

"It is a very hard working council and we have done a lot."

He denied there had been a lot of back biting over the huge cost of the market hall makeover but admitted there had been discontent over the spending of the previous administration.

The Audit Commission is expected to issue a ruling on the final costs and report on the reasons for the overspend in the near future.