AN OSWESTRY ward councillor who was criticised for missing more than a years' worth of Shropshire Council meetings has resigned.

Former Conservative and Brexit Party councillor Clare Aspinall, whose last meeting at Shropshire Council representing Oswestry East was in November 2019, handed her notice in at Shirehall on Monday morning.

She had come in for criticism for not attending meetings but still claiming her full £1,000-per-month allowance as a councillor, which is reportedly around £15,000 for the time passed.

A Shropshire Council spokesman said: "We can confirm that Clare Aspinall has resigned as a Shropshire Councillor, with effect from this morning."

Ms Aspinall would have faced an automatic by-election after missing six straight months of meetings; however, that was extended because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

It is not believed that she will have to pay back any of the allowance as it is within the rules.

But Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting has previously said that the payment of allowance to non-attending members is something for the council to address.

He said: "As regards allowance payments the recent government guidance suggests there is little we can do about non-attendance due to the pandemic, but this is being looked into and if it is possible to stop payments for members who don’t attend we will certainly instigate it.”