A disgusted taxpayer is calling for the resignation of Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott and her cabinet after they awarded themselves a huge increase in allowances.

Business consultant Paul Gaunt, 47, who lives in Broughton Gifford, is running the online petition – www.

wehavesolutions.co.uk – as he believes the increase is in poor taste given the financial difficulties Wiltshire’s electorate face on a daily basis.

The rise, recommended by the council’s Independent Remuneration Panel and passed during last week’s full council meeting, has seen the allowances of Cllr Scott, head of the Conservative group, rise by 36.5 per cent a year, from £37,335, to £52,227.

Cabinet members’ pay has been hiked at least 22 per cent, with allowance entitlements rising from £15,101 to £18,433 a year, while councillors’ basic allowances go up by one per cent to £12,289 a year.

Mr Gaunt said: “I was flabbergasted that they could be so insensitive.

“The petition has received a lot of interest and as this develops I’d like to hold a walk in Trowbridge to County Hall and address the council.”

Mr Gaunt said Cllr Scott and her cabinet should resign and stand for re-election.

Cllr Scott has refused to speak to the Times about the increase in allowances which was passed by 53 votes to 28, with two abstentions.

Wiltshire Councillor Mark Connolly (Con, Tidworth) voted against the increases and plans to give the equivalent of his raise to the Tidworth mayor’s charity fund.

He said: “It would be nice if other councillors follow suit and donate to charity.”

Opposition leaders felt the allowance increases were inappropriate after the council made 252 staff redundant, during the summer. Wiltshire Councillor Ernie Clark, independent group leader, said: “Whether the increase is deserved or not, common sense had to prevail.”

Wiltshire Councillor Ricky Rogers, Labour group leader, said: “People struggling to make ends meet will not understand such a big increase.”

To view Mr Gaunt's petition visit www.wehavesolutions.co.uk.