A NEW councillor stormed out of his first ever committee meeting yesterday, after being told to restrict the amount of times he speaks.

Cllr Nick Westwell, for Heysham's Harbour Ward, was discussing the future of the council's arts and events magazine, LA Views, when chairman Paul Morris accused him of "dragging it on too long."

Westwell was fuming at the warning and couldn't believe the suggestion that councillors should only make one point on any given subject.

Soon after this, he collected his papers and left the meeting. Speaking outside the meeting room, Cllr Westwell told the Citizen: "I am disgusted at the treatment I received in there. I represent the local community, and what just happened was totally disrespectful to them.

"I left the meeting as a statement of my unhappiness."

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