A FURIOUS councillor has resigned from cabinet after a mayor halted the re-instatement of allotments.

Councillor Robbie Payne walked out of the Hartlepool Borough Council cabinet meeting, yesterday, after Mayor Stuart Drummond used his casting vote to prevent restoration of the allotments at the Briarfields site on financial grounds.

Coun Payne said he had been asked to work with allotment-holders last year, with a view to getting the issue settled.

But he said if Mayor Drummond was against the scheme from the start, he should have said so and not allowed the issue to progress.

"I'm furious," said Coun Payne.

"We got the price of the redevelopment down to £75,000 and we had agreed on a fantastic scheme that would have benefited the whole town.

"Mayor Drummond could have saved everyone's time and money by speaking against it from the beginning. A true leader would have done that."

Hartlepool council evicted the gardeners in 2003 in the hope that the land could be sold to developers for £3m.

But the development was rejected by the local planning inspector and the Local Government Ombudsman claimed the council had acted in "maladministration", suggesting the gardeners be re-instated.

The issue was agreed by full council, but yesterday Mayor Drummond said the council's cash crisis was a stumbling block.

"I voted against it, because we just can't afford it at this moment in time," said Mayor Drummond.

"We are currently undergoing a budget process and have had to cut £3m of services and we are going to have to make some difficult decisions. To be spending money on something like building new allotments would be foolish. I'm not ruling it out indefinitely."

Allotment-holder Dr Peter Pickens said he was disappointed the mayor had waited until yesterday's vote to speak against the redevelopment for the first time.

"We do hold that against him," he said.