WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder has been criticised by a senior Dorset councillor for taking to social media and the Press over a roads issue in Sherborne.

Cllr Ray Bryan, portfolio holder for highways, says the MP should have talked to the council first to check his facts before going public.

He denied claims that the householder whose property had been damaged in Kitt Hill a year ago had been 'pressuried’ by the council to get repairs carried out, and the ‘false impression’ that Dorset Council was responsible for the ongoing partial road closure.

Cllr Bryan said he had done all that he could, along with council officers, to get the problem sorted out.

“I’m disappointed that Mr Loder did not contact the council to check the facts before writing an open letter to a newspaper about the event following the incident when, what we presume was a lorry, was driven into a privately owned wall at Kitt Hill, Sherborne,” he told Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Cllr Bryan said the communication had led to the false impression that Dorset Council was responsible for the repair and the delays.

He said that had the MP checked “it could have avoided untrue headlines and the false impression that councillors have not worked hard to resolve the problem so that the road can be fully re-opened…I hope in future that we can work through concerns together and not through letters to newspapers.”

Cllr Bryan said there had been around 300 ‘lines of contact’ about the issue and he had been in touch with local councillors once or twice a week about the problem.

“We have done everything we could have done…it’s a very difficult situation we find ourselves in,” he said.

At a previous meeting, in October last year, Cllr Bryan said that rebuilding the structure had turned out to be “a complex and extremely technical task” with only a limited number of contractors able to do the work.

“I can confirm that officers and myself have been in continual dialogue with the owners of the property since the unfortunate accident which damaged the wall … I can assure colleagues and the residents of Sherborne that we are and seeking a resolution as quickly as possible,” he said at that time.