CALLINGTON councillors have come under fire after only three out of eleven of them were present at the annual town meeting recently.

Councillors normally outnumber members of the public considerably but on this occasion 13 residents attended the meeting in the council chamber.

Resident Vivian Stephens, who is a regular meeting attender, asked at the full council meeting last Tuesday where all the councillors were on that night.

'You advertised in the Callington newsletter that you wanted to hear from us but where are all the councillors? I go to the meetings every year and have never known a situation where the public outnumbers the councillors. They ought to know when the meeting is because it is around the same time every year.'

Cllr Jeremy Gist, who was present along with portreeve Rick Lumley and Cllr Andrew Long, said he was 'genuinely embarrassed' by the lack of councillors: 'It's the worse annual meeting I have ever attended,' he said.

Town and former Caradon district councillor Chris Thomas told the full council meeting last week that since Caradon had disbanded, he did not check his diary as often as he should and was washing his car at the time.

Cllr Lumley apologised and said there were important dates in the council's calendar, of which this was one, which councillors should try and attend.