BOLTON Council has been accused of trying to prevent proper scrutiny of the controversial Asons grant at a meeting next week.

An extraordinary meeting of the council’s scrutiny committee is taking place on Wednesday, when the £300,000 law firm grant will be on the agenda along with other items.

But opposition councillors are unhappy that the meeting — in which questions will be asked regarding the decision to award the grant — is being held at the Pavillion in Queens Park, rather than in the council chamber of Bolton Town Hall.

Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Roger Hayes believes the selection of this venue will make it more difficult for interested members of the public because of its size and distance from the town centre.

But council chiefs have pointed out that the same number of people can fit into the Pavillion as in the public gallery of the council chamber and said changes being made to allow the filming and recording of meetings in the town hall are not yet finished.

Cllr Hayes said: “Meetings were held at Queens Park while the Town Hall was being renovated but now it has been handed back there is no excuse for continuing to hold meetings there”.

Council accused of running 'dictatorship' after secretly approving £300,000 grant to town centre law firm

Cllr Hayes is also annoyed that two other items of business, the Spatial Framework and the town hall renovations, are to be included on the agenda. He believes this is an attempt to limit the time that Councillors can spend scrutinising the Asons Grant.

Chief executive Margaret Asquith said that timing issues means both the Spatial Framework and Town Hall handover items must be on the agenda on Wednesday.

She said work to fit the chamber with new equipment won’t be finished until the end of January.