BETTER pay for councillors has been demanded by Liberal Democrat Nigel Hicks.

Mr Hicks told the Advertiser that although he clearly was not interested in doing the job for the money, he thought councillors should receive more financial reward for their work.

His comments follow a mix-up in the allowances paid to him.

"I think we do the town a dis-service by not paying councillors more," he said.

"If we have someone who is a high- flier they may not be prepared to take on the role for so little money. I think it would be right for councillors to be paid a much more appropriate sum."

He said the amount of work some councillors put into their role was the equivalent of another full-time job, yet they did not receive financial reward in proportion to the time and effort they spent.

Mr Hicks, who is chairman of the planning committee, was recently mistakenly paid less in allowances than he was entitled to but did not notice at first.

He said: "On the council, there are some councillors who I believe are absolutely superb and there are some who I do not believe are worth a penny -- you do get a major mix of qualities on the council."

He said his suggestion was not for his own gain but for those who followed him in representing the town.

"It would encourage more people and better quality people to put their names forward if we paid a better salary to councillors," said Mr Hicks.

"Not too many people get involved in politics and serving the community but if we can reach out to other people, that would be a major cost benefit to the borough.

''With their better expertise, that is money well spent."