Cllr Mike Cox, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Hillingdon Council slammed the Conservative administration for taking 10 months to settle the dispute with its former Chief Executive Dorian Leatham and for costing tax payers hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"This case has been a real low point in the history of Hillingdon Council. The time taken to reach this settlement has meant that the council has been short of senior management and direction for ten months. The strain on the remaining senior officers has been immense. The focus on the row has meant Hillingdons real problems of anti social behaviour and dealing with the consequences of the cuts in services have been neglected.

The only real winners have been the lawyers and consultants who have been paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by Hillingdon Council to deal with case.

Council tax payers have also had to pay Mr Leatham substantial extra sums all because the Leader of the Conservatives had personal differences with the Council's senior officer and couldn't work out a solution. This money ought to be docked from Cllr Puddifoot's £66,000 a year council pay."