A LEOMINSTER councillor is urging his colleagues to donate due back-payments to charities.

And Peter McCaull will lead the way by topping up a charity of his own.

The Hereford Times has reported previously how Herefordshire councillors have been 'underpaid' over the past five years due to an administration error.

Cllr McCaull, elected as an independent for Leominster south ward this month, said he initially planned to refuse the back payment.

But now he’s decided to take what’s owed and put it into his own charity – the Janice and Peter McCaull charitable trust that supports young people in Leominster.

He calls on other councillors to follow suit and give to good causes in their own wards.

"I don't think it's right having back-pay. It's not going to be much for individual councillors like me but when you are, for example, cabinet members, you're talking about a lot of back-pay,” said Cllr McCaull.

"In a time when there's cut backs and everything else it doesn't look right and it doesn't seem right or feel right. I will put it into the Janice and Peter McCaull charity trust – the kids are more important than the likes of me having a bonus for doing something I enjoy doing anyway," he said.

The uplift councillors were entitled to was in line with the local government services pay award.

Two pay awards have taken place since 2011, a one per cent increase effective from April 1, 2013 and a 2.2 per cent increase effective from January 1 this year.

Taking the payments is a matter of individual discretion. Some members – past and present – have already raised questions about acceptance.

In a statement, Herefordshire Council confirmed councillors can refuse the payment if they choose to. Any money not claimed would be consumed back into council coffers.

Councillor McCaull, who added that the hours required of councillors would make the role almost impossible for someone employed full-time, added: "It's not going to be a lot for ordinary people but it's the principle of the thing. If you take £100 for 58 councillors there's £5,800. I am sure there's plenty of charities around that it could go to.

"It's the way I feel about being a councillor. I'm not there to make money out of it I'm there for the people that elect me."