LONG-distance councillor Stephen Gregory has sent a Christmas message to his North-East constituents from his Caribbean paradise island: " I don't give a ****."

The former butcher admitted last night he had not taken up a single issue in his Bishop Auckland ward, in County Durham, since July, while still claiming £89 a week in allowances from Wear Valley District Council.

He has received nearly £4,500 since leaving Britain for the Dominican Republic in January, bringing criticism and prompting the council to urge a change in Government payment rules.

Councillor Gregory, who first joined the council in 1999 as a Liberal Democrat before becoming an Independent, announced this week that he would resign his seat when he comes home in two weeks' time.

But he told The Northern Echo last night: "I don't give a ****. I am not bothered.

"I am the scapegoat here. I haven't done anything wrong. If you don't attend the meetings, you don't attend the meetings.

"It doesn't matter if you are in Bishop Auckland or ****** Brisbane."

He claimed he offered his resignation to the council's Labour leader, Olive Brown, when he last visited the Civic Centre, in Crook, in July.

He said: "I was told it was not possible. They asked me to stay on and re-evaluate my situation when I came home for Christmas.

"I have just followed the instructions I was given."

But Councillor Brown denied giving him any such advice.

She said: "I know exactly what I said and I was not alone at the meeting. He came to ask my advice. I told him he would have to consider resigning. He told me he did not want to resign.

"I told him is was his duty to represent the people of Bishop Auckland.

"There is no way I could condone what he has done. But it was my duty to advise him of his rights."

LibDem leader Chris Foote Wood, who called for a two-tier system of members' payments, said: "His actions have been detrimental to the council and to local government in general."