A furious row erupted at a Three Rivers District Council meeting last night, with one disgruntled member yelling at the chairman and branding his conduct “a disgrace.”

Members of the public watched in amazement as Labour group leader Councillor Francis Durham spent more than a minute shouting at the authority’s chairman, Councillor Richard Laval.

Councillor Durham, the out-spoken member for Northwick, had requested that comments he made in a previous meeting be recorded in minutes circulated to members.

When told by the chairman that his request would have to take the form of a question Councillor Durham steadily increased the volume of his protests.

He yelled: “I am telling you that I have I right to be heard; to have what I say in this chamber recorded in the minutes.”

When told by Liberal Democrat Councillor Laval that his request would have to be put to a vote – a vote that, given the political make-up of the chamber, he was almost certain to lose – Councillor Durham claimed to be the victim of a political “fix-up.”

He added: “This is a disgrace. What you are doing is a disgrace. This is a fix-up.”

Councillor Laval replied that he would “run the meeting as I see fit” and offered members a vote.

All present Liberal Democrat members duly voted against the motion – enough to defeat a combined yes vote by the minority Conservative and Labour groups.