Wycombe District Council’s Liberal Democrats are calling for the resignation of senior politicians who agreed the five reserve sites should be released.

In a press release issued by Ian Morton, on behalf of Wycombe Liberal Democrats, the party stated they want the leader of the council, Richard Scott, and cabinet member of planning and sustainability, Neil Marshall, to step down.

The Liberal Democrat group said the Conservatives participated in "blatant buck passing".

The statement read: "It is now clear that the short-sightedness of local Conservatives has backfired and as a result they have released all the reserve sites for development at the same time.

"This they claim gives them control. In fact all it has done is given a green light to developers to pick and choose where they develop."

It continued: "The lack of leadership shown by Councillors Scott and Marshall is damming. They have shown a complete disregard for the democracy of Wycombe District Council and have sought to blame anyone but themselves for the mess that the District Council finds itself in.

"Wycombe Liberal Democrats have no confidence in the current leadership of Wycombe District Council and as a result calls upon Councillors Scott and Marshall to resign with immediate effect and for a new leadership team to be appointed who will lead Wycombe District Council with the integrity it deserves."

Senior councillors have defended the decision to discuss the release of the reserve sites in cabinet rather than at a full council meeting.

Councillor Scott also rejected calls for his resignation, saying the decision to hear the proposals infront of cabinet was in keeping with council policy.

He added that members were allowed to speak for one minute and a substantial consultation process took place over the reserve sites which gave residents the opportunity to air their views.