AN MP has called on the councillor responsible for social services to resign after accusing him of practically bankrupting the county council.

Mid Worcestershire Tory Peter Luff says Peter Pinfield should step down immediately after revelations that the department has overspent by almost £5m.

"This appears to be a scandal with the most serious consequence for the sick and disabled," said Mr Luff, who has demanded council leader Carol Warren make clear the true depth of the problem.

Worcestershire's social services is heading for a £4.6m overspend, just five months into the financial year.

Now the county's chief executive Rob Sykes has intervened and is ordering urgent cutbacks to make up the losses before the books are balanced early next year.

But Mr Luff said the "buck stopped with the political masters".

"Their failure to control budgets effectively is the single largest failure of management I can recall locally," he said. "At least the disaster at the Dome won't kill anyone - this scandal could."

In a letter to Coun Warren, Mr Luff says that director of social services Peter Gilbert's current sick leave would be seen as a "prelude to disciplinary action or even dismissal".

"I will also need clarification of how the council intends to deal with a situation, which in a very real sense leaves it bankrupt," he wrote.

Mr Luff added that any further cuts could be the final straw in the county's current "bed-blocking" crisis whereby many hospital beds are being taken up by elderly people waiting for nursing home places.

But Coun Peter Pinfield vowed to stay, saying he did not walk away from problems.

"We have to put the services above political point scoring," he said. "The people of Worcestershire expect Peter Luff to work alongside us, not against us."

Coun Pinfield welcomed Mr Sykes' intervention.

"We only have £81m, but we have to ensure that the books balance," he said. "There has never been enough money in the pot. But we can only spend the money we have got. We have to ask are we making the tough decisions? Perhaps we should be saying no sometimes."

Coun Pinfield admitted that cuts would now have to be made to make up the deficit.

"Once the budget is under control we can start spending money again," he said.