The Conservative leadership at West Berkshire COuncil is warning people not to accept statments put out by Liberal Democrat politicians at face value.
Their latest muddle misled the respected Newbury Weekly News into publishing an article which stated that the cost of consultancy would be more than the cost of remedial work relieving traffic congestion at the Thatcham railway crossing. This was untrue.
The Leader of the Conservative Group at West Berkshire Council, Cllr. Gordon Lundie, commented: "There is a worrying tendency for local Liberal Democrats to distort the truth by quoting facts and figures that they must know are misleading. In this particular case, Cllr. Woodhams has been in receipt of the correct facts and figures since April this year but in his haste to grab a headline, he chose not to provide the reporter with all the facts.
"Nor is this an isolated case. Liberal Democrats recently stated that the Government's Pupil Premium for John O'Gaunt school delivered significantly more money than was actually the case.
"The public should be able to have confidence in the figures that they are being given and at the moment, that confidence is lacking."