A MIDDLEWICH town council meeting spiralled into chaos last night which forced the mayor to end it early.

Labour’s Cllr Mike Hunter stormed out of the meeting because his motion demanding no new development on the bypass route until it is completed was deferred until December.

Middlewich Town Mayor Samantha Moss (Middlewich First) said she believed the full motion was unclear about what was meant by ‘development’ and that the topic was too important to push through a vote.

Cllr Hunter said: “What I don’t want is another cul-de-sac. We’ve been in this situation before where we’ve had funding and the bypass has not happened.”

Cllr Moss said: “What is the point if it isn’t beneficial to the town?”

Cllr Hunter said: “What are you so frightened of? Whenever a bypass motion is brought to the table then you don’t want to vote on it. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”

The full motion included stopping HGVs from using Booth Lane, Lewin Street and Leadsmithy Street except for access once the bypass and link road are completed.

During the debate Middlewich First members questioned whether a ban on development could be implemented and argued that stopping HGVs would force large vehicles into the town instead.

Cllr Bernice Walmsley (MF) said: “You can’t have a block on building in that route - that is not an enforceable idea.

“You have to assess each planning application based on its own merit. What if an application was directly linked to the building of the bypass?

“We are in a fundamentally different position today than we have been in the past. A planning application is in the process of being started and the project is being funded.

“I cannot support it without an amendment.”

Cllr Simon McGrory (MF) added: “The link road to Cledford Lane is essential in this project. But the problem with stopping traffic is that we would encourage it to go through the town instead.”

Cllr Hunter refused to make amendments to his motion and requested it be voted on even though the meeting was coming to a close.

Heated exchanges continued after the meeting closed in front of members of the press and around 20 members of the public.