MALVERN Town Council staff is struggling to carry out council business because it is snowed under by increasing paperwork, the town clerk claims.

"We have enough staff to carry out the legal functions of this council but it just depends how quickly councillors want things done," said clerk Shirley Young.

"There is so much typing and administration to be done from all the committees that we may not get around to other things very quickly."

She admitted accuracy in council reports was suffering.

"When we have so much to do, we do not have enough staff and enough hours in a day to do good quality work," she said.

"There are lots of minor errors in reports and minutes for this meeting but we just haven't got the time to check it all.

"If the town council recommends lots of activities, they have a legal obligation to resource them appropriately," she added.

The revelation came following criticism from councillors that they did not have the minutes of a planning meeting held on Monday, September 16, because they had not yet been completed.

"Last week I spent 40 hours photocopying, typing and, at one point, cleaning toilets," added Mrs Young.

The results of a staffing crisis were also highlighted by an error in a report to councillors about the by-election for the Langland ward.

Mrs Young was due to report on staffing issues in more detail in the council's private session.