A MEETING described as "the most important ever held by Yarm Town Council" has just taken place.

But the meeting, called for the council to answer to the public for its actions, was snubbed by residents.

Apart from one ratepayer representative, not one person turned up for the event at the fellowship hall last Friday.

The council has been rapped over the knuckles by the district auditor over its accounts and other matters.

But a furious Coun Marjorie Simpson slammed the situation as a disgrace. "This meeting should never have taken place," she said. "The district auditor should be sacked."

She claimed the thousands of pounds the council had spent on legal fees would have been better spent on the people of Yarm.

The auditor's interest was sparked by an elector's objection to the accounts.

An angry Coun Peter Monck said: "It is a pity these people are not here to follow through their actions."

The council's new vice-chairman, Coun Philip Addison, said: "This is the most important meeting this council has ever held. We have been called to answer to the public for our actions and I am disappointed the townspeople are not here."

"The district auditor raised a number of questions he felt needed answering," he said.

Four main areas were involved: the use of allotment land for the medical centre car park; VAT on millennium expenditure; the fellowship hall and road closures for the 1999 Yarm fair, part of the business of the weigh and tolls committee.

l See page 5.