COTSWOLD councillors who have missed a third of their council meetings may be asked to hand back part of their annual allowance.

Members of Cotswold District Council's Standards Committee were this week informed that six councillors were currently outside the target of attending a minimum of two thirds of meetings.

They could, therefore, be asked to repay a portion of their allowance money in May unless they either improve their attendance or persuade fellow councillors there was a good reason for their absences.

Cllrs Michael Baines (56.2%), Paul Day (31.2%), Christine Eatwell (60%), Julie Girling (50%), Colin Methven (50%), and Ray Theodoulou (45.4%) have not attended at least two out of three of their allocated meetings.

All councillors receive a basic annual allowance of £3,800, paid monthly, with extra allowances paid for special responsibilties such as leader or chairman of the council, committee chairmen or their deputies.

If a councillor fails to attend at least two thirds of meetings of the full council and meetings of committees of which they are a member they are "invited" to pay back allowances up to a maximum of 25%.

CDC has to rely on a members' cooperation for this as they cannot legally demand the money back.

The maximum repayment is set at 25% to reflect other work carried out by councillors in the course of their ward duties, such as local surgeries.

Cllr Colin Methven, representing Fosseridge, said: "I do go to meetings whenever I can. However I work in London and have one or two other responsibilties and it is extremely difficult balancing everything in my life."

He added: "But there is an advantage to the council of having people active in all walks of life."

And Fairford Cllr Ray Theopoulou was critical of the figures, saying they did not take into account extra responsibilities.

He is also a member of the CDC's housing panel, audit committee and the Cotswold Safety Partnership as well as a Gloucestershire County Council cabinet member.

"It can be a very positive and useful thing to be on both councils county and district because you do see things from other angles," he said.

"What's not helpful is to look at some of these things and not at them all. There are all sorts of things which are not accounted for."