A leading local politician said voters are 'always the best judge' as it emerged one borough councillor attended just five meetings in a year and received almost £4,500.

Town hall figures obtained by the Mercury show how much was paid to Great Yarmouth's 39 borough councillors and how many meetings they attended from May 2012 to the start of last month.

It follows a flurry of letters and calls for greater scrutiny after the Mercury revealed how councillors spent their £2,000 ward budgets last month.

Leader Trevor Wainwright said attending meetings is just one part of a councillor's role and members have different responsibilities.

But he agreed it is important for councillors to attend, and the authority is releasing the information to be 'more open and transparent'.

Records show the person with the lowest attendance is Martin Plane, councillor for Bradwell South and Hopton ward, who went to five meetings from May 2012 to the start of April 2013.

In this time there were at least nine full council meetings, and a further nine of the two committees Mr Plane sits on - local plan and audit and risk.

He received allowances totalling £4,473 and did not claim any additional expenses.

But Mr Plane is disputing the official figures, which were compiled by officers.

'There's no way I've only attended five meetings,' he said. 'I think I've missed one full council meeting, and I've been to most of the local plan meetings.

'I've been to significantly more than five.'

He conceded he has missed some of the audit and risk meetings due to 'childcare commitments', but claims the only full council meeting he missed was the budget meeting.

James Tate, councillor for Bradwell North ward, attended seven meetings in the same time and took £3,579 in allowances but no extra expenses.

He has faced criticism in recent weeks after it emerged he spent none of his £2,000 ward budget to help his constituents, but stressed he had made efforts to find 'worthy' causes.

As vice chairman of the licensing committee he could have attended at least three meetings beyond the nine full council meetings.

But he said: 'I only sit on full council and licensing so it's representative of that.

'That's what I was allocated.'

He admitted he had not attended some of the meetings, but said there were 'genuine reasons' for this.

Fellow Bradwell North councillor Graham Plant, who is also a Norfolk County Council cabinet member, attended seven borough council meetings. As he also sits on the local plan committee there are at least 15 meetings he could have attended, and he received £3,579 in allowances and claimed £32.04 in expenses.

Mr Plant could not be reached for comment.

Council leader Mr Wainwright said most meetings are held at night so people with jobs are still able to attend.

He added: 'If you're the leader or a cabinet member you are expected to attend a lot more meetings.'

Mr Wainwright attended 41 meetings, received £12,943 in allowances and claimed £180.55 in expenses. Council rules allow mileage claims of 40p per mile and additional cash for 'subsistence' - food and drink.

Members receive a basic allowance of £3,579 to recognise their time commitment, and additional cash for extra responsibilities, including £9,634 for leader and £5,201 for cabinet members.

Ron Hanton, leader of the Conservative group, said the ruling group allocated them around 15 places on committees.

And as the ruling group holds more places, there is more Labour attendance than Conservative attendance.

He added all his councillors are committed to ward work, and he allocates extra responsibilities based on councillors' 'skills, interests, availability and ability'.

'In this respect, some of my members are retired whereas others hold down a full time job,' he furthered. 'Others have additional political responsibilities - such as county councillors, also known as twin hatters – some holding busy cabinet posts.'

If councillors fail to attend meetings on a regular basis, he said it is always dealt with 'on its merits and subject to any particular reason given'.

Great Yarmouth Conservative Association is responsible for selecting candidates to stand for election as Tory councillors.

'This selection is based on merit and worth and any sitting councillor falling well short of the commitment required would not be re-selected,' he added. 'The electorate are always the best judge of the merits of any councillor and ultimately will be the final arbitrator of his or her political destiny.'

Mr Hanton attended 20 meetings and received £7,522 as shadow leader, claiming no expenses on top of that.

Borough council meetings in the last year include at least nine full council, nine development control, 14 cabinet, seven scrutiny, six local plan, four Gorleston area committee, three Yarmouth area committee, three licensing and three audit and risk.

Councillor Ward Allowance Expenses Total/ Meetings

attended

Tony Blyth (Lab) Claydon £4,296 none £4,296/ 16

John Burroughs (C) Gorleston £4,296 none £4,296/ 15

Mick Castle (Lab) Central and Northgate £7,158 £95.88 £7,253.88/ 32

Barry Coleman (C) West Flegg £5,190 £781.02 £5,971.02/ 24

Mary Coleman (C) West Flegg £3,579 £215.74 £3,794.74/ 26

Bert Collins (C) Gorleston £3,579 none £3,579/ 22

Barry Cunniffe (C) Caister North £3,579 £165.48 £3,744.48/ 22

Marlene Fairhead (Lab) St Andrews £4,473 none £4,473/ 27

Marie Field (Lab) Central and Northgate £4,473 none £4,473/ 31

Colin Fox (Lab) Yarmouth North £4,473 none £4,473/ 15

Sue Hacon (C) Bradwell South and Hopton £4,473 none £4,473/ 10

Ron Hanton (C) Caister South £7,522 none £7,522/ 20

John Holmes (Lab) Southtown and Cobholm £5,726 £183.75 £5.909.75/ 21

Michael Jeal (Lab) Nelson £8,780 none £8,780/ 36

George Jermany (C) East Flegg £3,579 £75 £3,654/ 27

Penny Linden (Lab) Southtown and Cobholm £8,780 none £8,780/ 36

Charles Marsden (Lab) Yarmouth North £4,296 £75 £4,371/ 31

Kerry Robinson-Payne (Lab) Nelson £4,473 none £4,473/ 31

Bob Peck (C) Caister South £4,473 £310.07 £4,783.07/ 9

Val Pettit (Lab) Nelson £8,780 none £8,780/ 41

Martin Plane (C) Bradwell South and Hopton £4,473 none £4,473/ 5

Graham Plant (C) Bradwell North £3,579 £32.04 £3,611.04/ 7

Sylvia Pratt (Lab) Magdalen £4,473 none £4,473/ 14

Charles Reynolds (C) Ormesby £7,158 none £7,158/ 20

Jim Shrimplin (C) Ormesby £3,579 £469.30 £4,048.30/ 25

Tony Smith (C) Caister North £4,473 none £4,473/ 17

Jamie Smith (Lab) Bradwell North £4,473 none £4,473/ 29

Barry Stone (C) Lothingland £3,579 £159.58 £3,738.58/ 10

Lee Sutton (Lab) Central and Northgate £8,052 £182.31 £8,234.31/ 22

James Tate (C) Bradwell North £3,579 none £3,579/ 7

David Thompson (C) Fleggburgh £3,579 none £3,579/ 25

Mark Thompson (C) Lothingland £3,579 none £3,579/ 10

Hilary Wainwright (Lab) Bradwell South and Hopton £3,579 none £3,579/ 17

Trevor Wainwright (Lab) Magdalen £12,943 £180.55 £13,123.55/ 41

Brian Walker (Lab) Magdalen £8,780 none £8,780/ 38

Colleen Walker (Lab) Claydon £5,367 none £5,367/ 12

Shirley Weymouth (C) East Flegg £3,579 £635.85 £4,214.85/ 21

Bernard Williamson (Lab) Claydon £8,780 none £8,780/ 30

Barbara Wright (Lab) St Andrews £3,579 none £3,579/ 24