MALVERN Hills District Council's chief executive Chris Bocock has sent a strongly worded letter to the Local Government Chronicle after it published an article claiming the council was in danger of being placed on a Government hit list.

Alongside authorities like Walsall MBC and Derby City Council, the council was named as one of six in the country with "problems severe enough to merit intervention" by the DTLR, Department of Health or the Department for Education and Skills.

In his letter, Mr Bocock says: "Local Government is a hugely demanding place for all who work in it and misplaced articles like yours do nothing other than demoralise. You clearly have no idea just how it might feel to be wrongly labelled as failing."

Mr Bocock added that he had since spoken to sources in the Government and Audit Commission who he said were as surprised about the story as the council had been.

The journalist who wrote the article, Varya Shaw, told the Gazette concerns about MHDC related to its performance in a recent Best Value audit.

However, an Audit Commission spokesman said: "We carried out a Best Value implementation inspection a few months ago at MHDC and have not got any plans for government intervention. We don't know where any suggestions to the contrary have come from."

Matthew Warburton, head of strategy for the Local Government Association, said two or three of the named councils were "nowhere near" an adverse judgement.

"There are no plans to intervene in any authorities other than the London Borough Council of Hackney, where there has been a process going on for some time," he said.