Furious residents accuse councillors of yawning and appearing distracted during important meeting in Milton Keynes

Blakelands Residents Association has publicly accused Labour councillors of damaging the council's reputation during last week's special audit committee meeting.

But council leader Pete Marland has disputed their complaint and defended his members, saying: "The meeting was four hours long, I think yawning is allowed."

The meeting, held virtually via Zoom, was to discuss residents' objections to the council's approval of a giant warehouse they say is "blighting" their estate and overshadowing their homes.

Sitting on the committee were Labour councillors Mick Legg, Martin Petchley and Elaine Wales - and all three have been accused by the residents of "unacceptable" behavior. Councillor Legg and Councillor Wales have responded to the complaints and assured residents they were focused on the discussions. Councillor Petchley has not yet responded

The association has now put in a complaint to MK Council. It states: "We are emailing you because we are thoroughly shocked and appalled by the behaviour of certain members of the audit committee during the meeting. This was an important meeting for residents of Blakelands. There were a large number of people watching the meeting live on YouTube.

It adds: "Over the last 48 hours, we have received a large number of messages, comments and emails from the residents of Blakelands and the wider community in Milton Keynes. All of those individuals have condemned the unacceptable behaviour of certain members of the audit committee."

The complaint then goes on to make direct accusations. It states: "Councillor Legg: You were repeatedly yawning and using your mobile phone in a very visible manner."

The complaint also accused Councillor Petchley of yawning and criticised what they said were "deeply insulting" comments about campaigners.

The campaigners added: "Councillor Wales: You were seen watching television in the background and we could hear it when you spoke."

The complaint continues: "It was also highly visible during the meeting that some members appeared to be receiving group messages on their mobile phones. When the mobile phones of the four Labour members are heard going off at the same time and they are then seen reading those messages, the public are only able to draw one conclusion.The visible actions and behaviour of certain members have further damaged the reputation of the council at a time when you be seeking to rebuild public trust and confidence."

The video of the meeting shows another Labour councillor, Norman Miles, cooking his dinner and doing a crossword puzzle during the session.

But he is not a member of the committee and leader Pete said: "I’m not sure why he was on the team's call, he could have watched on YouTube but he should have switched his camera off."

Councillor Mick Legg has admitted he was yawning throughout the meeting. He told the Citizen: "I certainly was yawning but I'd had a really long day and I was tired. My work day started at 7.30am and that meeting went on until 11pm."

Councillor Legg works at a plumbers merchants.

Cllr Elaine Wales has defended having her TV on. She told the Citizen: "As a single working mum I had spent the day at work and then took part in a four-hour council meeting in the evening. I don’t live in a big house and my daughter may have had the TV on. Covid-19 has impacted on all our lives and I don’t think it’s reasonable that my family should be impacted by my taking part in a long council meeting in our home."

She added: "I listened to the meeting throughout and considered all the points raised during the meeting carefully. I have the utmost sympathy (which I did express during the meeting) for the residents and their situation.”

Cllr Martin Petchey has so far not replied to the Citizen's messages inviting him to comment.

Meanwhile, Conservative councillor John Bint, who was at the meeting to defend the residents' views about the warehouse, has given his view.

He said: "For councillors taking part in online committee meetings, I think the odd lapse in concentration or the occasional domestic distraction is completely understandable. But what I think we saw at Tuesday's meeting was several councillors apparently not listening to the subject being discussed by a committee that they were part of."

He added: "I think that was deeply disrespectful to the members of the public who are affected by the situation."

You can watch the meeting for yourself here .