THREE councillors stormed out of the first full Worcestershire County Council meeting in protest after they were refused a place on a scrutiny group.

But reforms behind a major shake-up, reorganising departments and changing cabinet and committee structures, went ahead.

Leader George Lord said his main aims for the new-look chamber were to keep people out of hospital and improving the lives of the disabled.

"Let's be realistic - in order to keep people out of hospital, the more we can generate interest in libraries and the arts, the better," leader Dr George Lord told the whole council yesterday.

"When we look at social concerns - problems with elderly people, mental health, learning disabilities, physical health - what we are responsible for in adult education, cultural services, is designed to be preventive."

The existing education and social services departments will be subsumed into the new Children's Services and Adult and Community Services departments.

The other departments will be titled Planning, Economy and Performance, Corporate Services, Environment and Finance. But councillors of the newly-merged Liberal and Independent Health Concern party Mike and Fran Oborksi and Jill Fairbrother-Millis all left the council chamber over the 'farce' of not being given a seat on the new overview and scrutiny steering group.

And Liberal Democrats claimed the lack of opposition members in the cabinet could threaten the council's excellent inspection ranking, something the ruling Conservative group dismissed. Existing cabinet members Couns Alwyn Davies, Liz Eyre and Adrian Hardman are all to continue and are joined by councillors John Smith, Stephen Clee and Philip Gretton. Worcester City Council's deputy leader and new county councillor Simon Geraghty becomes chairman of the authority's health scrutiny panel.

An audit committee is also in the process of being created.