MOVES to allow people attending council meetings to ask questions have been rejected.

It had been hoped to introduce question and answer sessions at meetings of Middlesbrough's cabinet and borough council.

The man behind the failed move, LibDem group leader Councillor Tom Mawston, said: "This is something we feel is an essential part of what the Government are trying to encourage people to do.

"When it comes to council meetings, there is no method for someone to speak to something that is not on the agenda; for someone who has a grievance to have the opportunity in full council to comment,'' Coun Mawston said.

"If we want to encourage people to come in and see the council working and to feel they are a part, this is an ideal opportunity to start the process. It has been missed."

Councillor Ken Walker, leader of the council, said: "It is nonsense for the Liberal Democrats to imply that in Middlesbrough we are not fully committed to giving members of the public the maximum opportunities to participate in the work of the authority.

"What we have tried to put in place is a system where members of the public have ample opportunity to express their views when it matters and on issues which concern them, rather than indulge in political window dressing.

"We have 26 ward-based community councils where residents can raise their concerns, as well as the Middlesbrough Assembly.

"That hardly suggests a council that doesn't want to listen to the public."