THE town hall's controversial newspaper could be living on borrowed time, according to a pledge by the minister for local government.

Marcus Jones MP has told councillors the monthly paper Wirral View "must stop" as it breaches the code of practice on local government publicity.

Questioned by three members of Wirral Tory group about the £240,000-a-year publication, the minister is reported to have told them the Department for Communities and Local Government is going to get tough.

The trio approached Mr Jones last week at the national conference of the Conservative Councillors Association.

Councillor Chris Blakeley was one those demanding action: “Mr Jones was very aware of the Wirral View and spoke quite specifically about it.

"He was very clear that while the process of enforcing the code may take time, the department will not stand by and allow this kind of money to be frittered away.”

Councillor Lesley Rennie said: “We were keen to keep highlighting this waste of money and to ensure that the department does take action to stop it.

"We were pleased to hear the minister confirm that the code of practice will be enforced and that Wirral Council won’t be allowed to ignore it for much longer.

"Judging by the comments I’ve heard from residents half of Wirral doesn’t receive it and the other half doesn’t want it.

"It’s time the town hall ended this waste.”

The council's communications chief Kev MacCallum said: "'Since we created Wirral View last year we have been clear - we are determined to provide every Wirral resident with useful, relevant and up to date information about public services.

"The feedback we are getting from residents every day is very positive, and we know of many community and voluntary organisations who are finding Wirral View an invaluable way of promoting their services to Wirral residents.

"We have put our case to the DCLG a number of times, and we remain keen to discuss the issues with them in more detail."

WARNINGS GIVEN:

Minister Marcus Jones already has sent several warnings about publishing Wirral View 12 times per year.

His office recently told the Globe the DCLG expects all councils to abide by the code, which says town hall freesheets should be quarterly and not designed to look like commercial newspapers.

In December Mr Jones said: "An independent free press is vital for local democracy and it’s important that we support them in holding local leaders to account.

“Councils shouldn’t undermine local democracy by publishing their own newsletters more often than quarterly.

“I’m offering the small number that aren’t playing by the rules this last chance to put their publishing houses in order - or I will use my powers to require them to do so.”