WILTSHIRE councillor Terry Chivers has blasted the council as secretive and not willing to listen to local people, after he was reprimanded over allegedly leaking confidential information from the Public Transport Review consultation group to media outlets, including the Wiltshire Times.

The group began working on Monday to assess the impact that cutting some subsidised bus services could have on public transport use across the county.

The Melksham Without North councillor said: “The council now is much more secretive than it was.

“They are trying to shut me up because they do not want anyone knowing what is going on.

“I think I have a right to know what is going on but it has got more difficult to get information from the council.

“Every consultation they have gone through has ended in cuts. They do not listen to what people want.

“When they did the green waste consultation the public came back with what they wanted and the council went against what the public said.”

Cabinet member for transport, Conservative Philip Whitehead said: "That is rubbish. This council is absolutely transparent in everything and Councillor Chivers has just got a bee in his bonnet.

"The consultation costs us a lot of time and money to go through.

"If we ever do go against the people we always explain why we do not take notice logically and correctly.

"It is rubbish people saying we ignore consultations. Independent councillors are what they are and have to get votes by appearing to rubbish the council."

Mr Chivers resigned from the consultation group after leaking a draft questionnaire.

He added: “The questionnaire was not marked as confidential. It was marked draft. I am not aware of any rule that says that you cannot show draft consultations to the public and I will defend the public right to see what is going on in the council.

“I would encourage anyone to take part in this consultation as if we lose our buses, particularly around the villages, it is going to be a disaster as some people are going to be stranded.

“What are the people going to do in places like Holt or Bratton? Those people rely on a subsidised bus service. If you do not have public transport they are really stuffed.

“On that working party you have people who have not set foot on a bus in the last 20 years. They have no idea what they are talking about."

Questionnaires will be available online and in hard copies in council buildings and on subsidised bus services.