Patrick Hall MP came under fire from furious councillors on Wednesday night (May 14).

Councillors at a meeting of Bedford Borough Council were voting on a motion to decide how much councillors should be paid for sitting on the implementation executive, which will oversee the change to Bedford's local government set-up.

The independent remuneration panel proposed that the councillors be paid £10,000 in 2008-09, with the chairman, Mayor of Bedford Frank Branston, receiving £12,500.

But while councillors instead voted for a £5,000 allowance, they reserved most of their ire for Bedford and Kempston MP Patrick Hall, who last week described the idea of raising allowances as "a gravy train for a handful of individuals who should know better."

Coun David Sawyer (Lib Dem, De Parys), who proposed an amendment to reduce the proposed allowances, said: "When we do this every year it is accepted that we will have reasonable allowances. That is accepted.

"What I am not prepared to accept is headlines in some local papers and the comments of one local MP. Mr Hall claimed £131,000 in the year most recently published. That is in addition to his salary.

"That is double the total allowance that would be paid to the councillors if my recommendation is accepted."

Mr Hall made his own comments in a story printed last week in another local newspaper.

Mayor Frank Branston, Labour group leader Coun Dave Lewis, and fellow Labour councillor Colleen Atkins, all left the room before Wednesday's discussion after declaring an interest.

But Conservative group leader Coun Nick Attenborough said: "I am not surprised the Labour leader has left, because if a Conservative MP had said this then I would be ashamed to face you all.

"Patrick Hall should know all about gravy trains. This is the man who has voted for a 23 per cent pay rise for MPs. Somebody should tell this Government that inflation is going through the roof.

"This is the man who happily voted to abolish the 10 per cent tax rate for the poorest people in society. He is one of the MPs who have gold-plated their pensions, so that when they are booted out they know they will still be okay, regardless of the rest of us.

"So I am taking nothing from someone who knows what a gravy train is, whereas this council has been one of the most poorly remunerated in the country."