A COUNCILLOR who has "gone swanning off to Australia" for six months has sparked outrage.

Tory councillor Spencer Drury has blasted Councillor Daniel Thorpe for not having attended a Greenwich Council meeting since March 27, claiming he has been backpacking in Australia.

Councillors who fail to attend a council meeting for six months or more are automatically disqualified and a by-election has to be called.

But Cllr Thorpe, who represents residents in Shooters Hill ward, returned for a last-minute meeting on September 16, just in time to keep his place on the council.

The next full council meeting is not scheduled until November, sparking Cllr Drury to claim the meeting was called especially to allow the Labour councillor to attend and to avoid a by-election.

Cllr Drury said: "There's no doubt in my mind that Labour would lose a by-election if it was called and the meeting was the only thing that would keep him on the council.

"How can he represent the people who live in the ward if he is in Australia?"

He also believes Cllr Thorpe has now returned to Australia to continue his holiday.

A council spokesman denied that the meeting was called solely for Cllr Thorpe and argued that he is within his rights to take up to six months' leave.

But Maureen Burgess, of Springwater Close, Shooters Hill, is outraged by the councillor's behaviour.

The retired 63-year-old said: "I think it shows terrible disrespect from the Labour party. We voted for the councillor and now he's gone swanning off to Australia without any explanation.

"It's not democratic. I've totally lost faith in the Labour party and I'm not going to be voting for them again."

According to the council, Cllr Thorpe arranged for his fellow ward councillors to cover his surgeries and case work during his absence.

But Cllr Drury argued that people voted for three councillors in the ward and with one less at a full council meeting there will now be one less voice for the residents of Shooters Hill.