Mayor Richard Rowles excluded four of the five Andover Independents Party (AIP) councillors from an Extraordinary Council Meeting convened to discuss a potential claim for judicial review against Andover Town Council, according to Cllr Christopher Ecclestone.

Cllr Ecclestone was one of the four AIP councillors excluded from the meeting.

He called the EGM “shambolic” and said he was excluded when he asked if the insurance cover was still good if the council was found to have not followed correct procedures.

Minutes after he was excluded from the meeting, Cllr Ecclestone took to Facebook to share his anger.

He posted on Facebook group Politics in Andover: “Shambolic EGM meeting with Cllr Rowles excluding four of the five AIP councillors. I was excluded when I asked if the insurance cover was still good if the council was found to have not followed correct procedures.

“It's inevitable that council will NOT be covered by whatever policy it has due to its many procedural failures since late October.

“The LibDem councillors will probably end up being surcharged for any costs the council is hit with when they lose this case.”

The EGM was convened to discuss whether to contest a Judicial Review being brought by three councillors against ATC for its repeated illegalities and irregularities.

Members of the press and public were also excluded from the EGM as the Cllrs deemed the topic of discussion was confidential and the public should not know about it.

All member of the council who attended the EGM, except Cllr Nicholas Asamoah, voted in favour of excluding members of the press and public from the meeting.