WYRE Forest’s MP has denied a Labour councillor’s claim that his case workers, who are also council cabinet members, have a “conflict of interest” over proposed traveller sites.

Wyre Forest district Labour member Adrian Sewell made the claim about Conservative councillors Julian Phillips and Tracey Onslow, who are employed by MP Mark Garnier and are also in the cabinet which will have the final say on pitch plans.

Mr Sewell believed the two councillors worked on drafting Mr Garnier’s 12-page consultation response, which questioned the number of pitches the council said it required but the Conservative MP said: “They have had no involvement”.

Mr Sewell said: “I do feel there’s a conflict of interest where Julian Phillips and Tracey Onslow have been accessories, if you like to, compiling a report opposing their own proposal.”

Mr Garnier, who believes Wyre Forest has enough pitches and is already doing its fair share to accommodate the travelling community, said: “Very, very early on we realised this could actually cause problems as councillors Tracey Onslow and Julian Phillips are cabinet members and, even more importantly, Julian is cabinet member for the gypsy and traveller consultation.

“We thought we need to set up a so-called Chinese wall in the office, so Julian and Tracey, at no point, have been involved or have seen any correspondence that has come in.

“They saw my submission but they saw it in the context that I passed it around the cabinet at the beginning of last week. What prompted that was the conflict between [leader of the district council] John Campion and myself and what I was trying to do was say this is what I’m sending in. But, apart from that, they have remained completely out of it.”