WRONG advice given by officers at Bromsgrove District Council has led to a call for a Tory councillor who sits on the authority's planning committee to resign her seat.

When Cllr Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Stoney Hill) decided to convert part of her home, Park Hall in Worcester Road, Bromsgrove, into a flat she sought advice from the planning department at the Council House.

She was told she needed building regulations consent, which she subsequently obtained, but not planning permission, advice officers later found to be wrong.

Later she was informed she needed to make the appropriate planning application for the conversion.

Cllr Peter McDonald (Uffdown and Waseley), on learning of the incident, wrote to the council's monitoring officer Vince Harrison seeking an explanation.

In his reply Mr Harrison admitted Cllr Shaw had been wrongly advised and stressed she had not acted improperly, and therefore there were no issues in relation to any code of conduct he, as monitoring officer, needed to address.

Cllr McDonald said: "She sits on the planning committee and it is no excuse to say she was not aware she needed planning permission.

"She was one of the first to object to flats being built on the former Stoke Turn Filling Station site near her home. This is a classic case of double standards and she should resign."

Dr Shaw declined to comment and no one from the council was available as we went to press.