A parish council meeting descended into chaos at points as councillors shouted over one another and complained that time was being wasted.

During the latest meeting of Hughenden Parish Council, Cllr Linda Derrick argued with several councillors and the new locum clerk.

Cllr Derrick – who was found in March by a hearing to have “bullied” a previous clerk – was reunited with her fellow parish councillors at the meeting in Great Kingshill, High Wycombe on Tuesday (November 21).

The council’s busy agenda for the meeting included the successful co-option of two new councillors, Yvonne Wilding and Kevin Cormack, who will represent the Great Kingshill and Naphill and Walters Ash wards respectively.

Councillors were also asked to accept recommendations from the Environment and Services Committee and to receive the latest budget reports and balance sheet.

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However, the night was overshadowed by squabbles and bickering as several councillors argued with Cllr Derrick, who questioned the new temporary clerk and whether he had the appropriate qualifications to oversee council finances.

Chair Stan Jones said the clerk, a trained economist, was given authority by the council to appoint a new responsible financial officer (RFO) after the previous one resigned.

The new clerk said: “I am really very, very upset by Cllr Derrick’s comments about the qualifications of town and parish clerks of which there are about 8,500 in this country.”

The new clerk, an employee of the Local Government Resource Centre, later apologised for shouting at Cllr Derrick, who then told him: “Please don’t do it again.”

The clerk then replied: “Please don’t talk to me like that. If anybody’s to admonish me, it will be Mr Chairman.”

Cllr Usha Prashar also said: “You have created Linda, a parallel reality for yourself which you want us all to adopt. I don’t find it helpful. I find it a waste of everybody’s time.”

Later in the meeting, Cllr Derrick complained that although the council has “£600,000 in the bank”, it “never gets anything done”.

Another councillor told her: “What you need to try and look at is why the admin costs are so high, why the disruption levels are so high and why we never get round to doing anything.”

Cllr Derrick also disputed who approved council payments – the responsibility of councillors – but was rebuffed by Cllr Prashar for wasting council time, who told her: “I am fed up of hearing from you.”

Cllr Derrick also complained that emergency powers invoked by the clerk were “draconian measures”.

After saying she had further questions, Cllr Chris Janes told her: “Linda, put them where you like.”

In a statement after the meeting, Cllr Derrick explained why she queried a resolution which said that the council had confirmed the appointment of the RFO.

She said: "I queried it for two reasons. First, because it was not for council to confirm the appointment by someone else; it was for Council to approve the actual appointment.

"I also queried it because, if the draft minutes were correct, council had confirmed the appointment without being informed of anything about the person involved, neither her background, experience nor her qualifications."

She said she asked for this information from the clerk, which was "important" because, the RFO was "now authorising all payments by the council (rather than the Council)" under emergency powers invoked by the clerk.