WOOTTON Bassett councillors have been cleared of allegations they misused tax payers' money.

A resident had lodged a complaint with the town council's auditors after the authority last year gave £500 to the Wootton Bassett War Memorial Committee and agreed to underwrite a further £3,500 if required.

But after an investigation the auditors cleared the council of any wrongdoing. Now they face a legal bill of more than £600 in addition to the costs of preparing files for the auditor.

At a finance and general purposes committee, former mayor Peter Roberts and current mayor Marion Sweet urged aggrieved residents to take up their complaints with the council directly and only use the auditor as a last result.

Meanwhile, town councillors have declined the opportunity to pay themselves allowances under new laws under the new Local Authorities (Member Allowances) Regulations 2003, which came into force on May 1 this year. This is the first occasion that parish and town councils have been given the power to pay their members allowances.

However, councillors decided to reject the opportunity of creating a scheme saying they have always given their time to the community for free and would continue to do so.

But they will continue to receive reimbursement of direct expenses for approved duties outside of the parish.