MOVING council meetings to the evenings could be the death of some councillors, a town hall meeting was warned.

Cllr Hugh Irving said if Denbighshire council changed its policy to hold its meetings at night rather than during the day, older members might end up over-tired on their drives home.

He said one councillor at another authority had a crash late one night after an evening meeting, and he didn’t want to see the same happening in Denbighshire.

Councillors were debating a report that said the overwhelming majority of them wanted to continue having meetings in the morning.

Angry members heckled Prestatyn councillor Paul Penlington, who earlier this year said holding meetings during the day made it difficult for people who worked or had families to get involved in local politics.

He described the authority as like a ‘retirement home’.

Members voted down a recommendation from their own task and finish group to hold one meeting a month with a 4pm start time.

Currently council meetings begin in the morning, making Denbighshire unusual with all but one of the county’s neighbouring authorities having some evening meetings.

Cllr Penlington proposed councillors make an effort to have meetings that are easier to get to for the public and potential candidates.

He felt that in doing this it would encourage more people to stand for the council.

“The needs and opinions of the public we represent have not been considered at all. Nobody has asked the public what they think. Over 50% of the population of Denbighshire live on the coast, 76 per cent are below retirement age.

“Morning meetings are not convenient to the vast majority if they want to come and attend. We very rarely get members of the public in here,” he said.

But Cllr Hugh Irving warned that having meetings in the afternoon could lead to unintended and potentially fatal consequences.

He said: “Be careful what you wish for. I sat on a council from 1974 to 1991 that did all its business in the evening.

“We started at six, we finished at 10.30. “There are consequences to recommending evening meetings, personally I would oppose them.

“I think it’s unsafe to expect members from either the extreme south or the extreme north of the county to make journeys at this time of the year.

“And I well remember a North Wales example of a prominent councillor of another authority who actually ran off the road on his way home from a meeting and died. I cannot support this suggestion.”

Members of the council voted by 28 votes to 10 against having one meeting a month starting at 4pm.