A senior Telford & Wrekin councillor was today kicked off one of the authority’s biggest committees in a row over an alleged leak of confidential information.

Councillor Keith Austin, the Labour group leader, has been removed from his position on the council’s cabinet committee by council leader Councillor Andrew Eade.

But Councillor Austin today strenuously denied any wrong-doing and said he would be writing to Councillor Eade tomorrow to refute the allegation in full.

The row centres on a newspaper article published last week in which Councillor Austin claimed the council could need to borrow £58 million to develop the town centre.

The council’s ruling Conservatives branded the claim totally untrue.

Councillor Eade today said he had written to Councillor Austin saying he felt compelled to “withdraw my invitation for you to remain in cabinet meetings when exempt reports are considered until this matter is fully resolved”. The matter is now being investigated.

Councillor Austin today said he had never leaked information in his 30 years as a councillor and claimed there had been some misunderstanding over the report.

He said: “The figures I was quoting were in the context of us going to prepare our budget and our capital programme for the whole of the town. It was nothing to do with the town centre as such.”

He added: “The information I presented was about our resources in the budget. We are thinking of supporting the Conservatives’ revenue budget and the council tax but we will not support the capital budget.”