TEMPERS flared in a Tywyn Town Council meeting after a row erupted between the retired clerk and local councillors.

An argument erupted between the retired clerk Elwyn Evans and town councillors Mike Stevens and John Pughe in a disagreement about the minutes from the previous month.

At the November meeting, the clerk’s last official sitting with the council, Mr Evans lambasted “certain councillors” for being “wet behind the ears” and “dishonouring” him.

Whilst going over the minutes from that previous meeting, Cllr Pughe interjected and suggested that the minutes were not an “accurate record” as they did not reflect Mr Evans’ criticisms of council members.

Mr Evans is currently being shadowed by the new clerk Bedwyr Gwilym during his first few months in office and was therefore present at the meeting. He responded to Cllr Pughe’s criticisms and claimed that he could not include every comment in the minutes because otherwise he would “end up writing a book every month”.

At this point, Cllr Stevens directly addressed the chair of the council, John Boulter, and queried why Mr Evans was present.

Cllr Stevens said: “I’m a bit perplexed why Mr Evans is here? The former clerk retired last month so I don’t understand why he’s taking part.”

Mr Evans responded by expressing his “surprise” that the two town councillors did not under­stand his system for compiling minutes even though he had explained it “countless times before”.

Mr Evans then urged Cllr Boulter to continue with the meeting. Cllr Stevens was then outraged.

“Mr Evans is out of order, he’s not a member of the council and he’s trying to run the meeting,” he said.

Cllr Pughe added: “I don’t understand why I’m not able to express my views whilst I am an elected member of this council and Mr Evans is not [a member].”

Mr Evans went on to explain that as he had written the minutes he had every right to defend them, which drew a series of ‘hear hears’ from some councillors around the table.

Mr Boulter interjected to try and bring order back to the meeting.

“This bickering has got to stop,” he said.

“It does nothing for the meeting, the town or the councillors.

“What the members of the public think about these meetings I do not know.

“I propose we have someone accept the minutes, another to second them and we can carry on with proceedings.”

At the vote, Cllr Pughe and Cllr Stevens voted against accepting the minutes but were beaten by a majority decisi­on.

Cllr Stevens added: “These are the last minutes Mr Evans will complete. I hope the new clerk is able to produce accurate notes.”