MEMBERS of an accident prevention panel were left fuming after county council officials declined to attend their meeting.

Teesdale Accident Prevention Panel said the absence of county council representation made the committee less efficient.

Representatives from the county council's highways department are regularly invited to the quarterly meetings of the panel. For the past year they have not attended, and members are angry that no explanation has been given for their absence.

At the meeting yesterday, its chairman, Barnard Castle town councillor, Michael Wheeler, pointed to two items which a county council officer would have been able to help them with.

Coun Wheeler said: "I don't know whether this is about saving costs or time. If you look back a couple of years ago, lots of items were dealt with quickly without too much discussion because we had the county council there."

Barnard Castle district councillor Ken Coates, said: "Slowly and slowly we're getting more isolated and everything's getting centralised. People look to the county council for advice and they're getting poor value for money."

A spokesman for the county council said it intended to set up local Member Area Panels which will meet with county, district and parish council representatives on a twice-yearly basis, and that was the reason why it had not attended the Teesdale Accident Prevention Panel.

At Member Area Panel meetings, members will be able to raise any concerns they have about traffic management.

A spokesman for the county council said: "It's not that we've been turning our backs. We've been planning what we think will be a much more effective network of meetings and workshops which will improve communication between local authorities."

The first round of meetings are due to begin in January.