AN outraged Labour councillor has asked why a Health Concern colleague's libel costs have been picked up by the district council's insurers.

A meeting of Wyre Forest District Council was due last night to consider complaints from Labour group leader Jamie Shaw about the alleged payment to meet costs in a dispute he said was not council business.

Mr Shaw said he wanted to know the basis on which the council's insurers picked up an estimated £2,000 bill for vice-chairman Frank Baillie because of comments he made about Wyre Forest Labour MP David Lock in a national publication.

Mr Baillie took lawyers' advice and "apologised unreservedly" to Mr Lock after the article appeared in the January 12 issue of the Tribune.

The article libelled Mr Lock regarding the downgrading of Kidderminster hospital.

In a fulsome apology Mr Baillie accepted Mr Lock had at all times acted in the best interests of his constituents and sought to correct the "unfounded allegations" he made in response to questions by a journalist.

Mr Shaw claimed £1,000 was agreed to pay the MP's legal costs and he assumed Mr Baillie's own costs would be about the same.

He revealed that even though the comments Mr Baillie made had nothing to do with council business, the chief executive had directed the councillor towards the council's own insurers.

He alleged all but £100 of the costs were met by the public insurers, not by Mr Baillie himself.

Describing his feelings of "outrage" Mr Shaw argued the council had lost its "no claims bonus" and would face a higher premium next year.

He said when full details were disclosed he would set out to find out why a council insurance policy was used to pay the costs of party political libel.