TORY councillors at County Hall – with one exception – have voted to create new paid positions for at least four of their members.

The new Associate Cabinet Member posts were given the go ahead at a meeting of Surrey County Council on Tuesday last week despite opposition from the Residents' Association and Independent Group, who demanded a recorded vote. The new roles will come with a yet undecided price tag for tax payers.

The cost for Surrey council taxpayers could spiral further in years to come as the Conservative group has not placed a limit on the number of councillors who could be made associate cabinet members.

Eber Kington, Residents' Association county councillor for the Division of Ewell Court, Auriol and Cuddington, said: "Effectively it is an open cheque book on the bank accounts of Mr and Mrs Surrey Taxpayer enforced by the political elite within Surrey County Council who, in their own words, see the additional drain on public money as 'just a procedural matter'."

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.