CRAVEN District Council's reputation is being severely damaged by an apparent cloak of secrecy, according to one of its members.

Cllr Robert Heseltine (Ind), one of five members who called Tuesday's extraordinary general meeting to discuss confidential staffing issues- including the recent departure of finance head Joanna Miller - attempted to stop proceeds from going into excluded session.

Cllr Heseltine made reference to a public website in which confidential council business had been published and which had been viewed by more than 3,000 people.

"The reputation of this council is at risk and we don't have a right good reputation at the moment, " he said, adding that members were being treated like "dummies".

But council chairman Cllr Linda Brockbank (Cons) warned members from taking any notice of the website which she said had used material not released by the council. She further warned councillors of taking the meeting into territory while in open session which could potentially damage the reputation of the authority and individuals.

There were angry exchanges including a demand from monitoring officer David Wilcock that Cllr Heseltine withdraw a critical comment levelled at senior officers.

Cllr Heseltine, who had called for the replacement of some officers, said it was unfortunate, but it was an opinion shared by some.

The meeting also saw Cllr John Kerwin-Davey (Ind) temporarily leave after saying he would not stay in an undemocratic meeting.

Some stated they had no idea what the meeting was about and claimed no knowledge of the website - although it had been mentioned to them by members of the public.

Cllr Pat Fairbank (Cons), who said she never used the internet, said several people had asked her what was going on and had come to their own conclusions.

"When I tell them I don't know what is going on they think I'm telling porkies and I'm fed up with it," she said.

Councillors debated for an hour and a half whether to exclude the public and press, before going into private session for another half an hour to discuss the grounds on why the exclusion should be made.

A decision was then made to continue the rest of the meeting, behind closed doors, as first moved by Skipton Cllr Marcia Turner (Cons)and seconded by deputy leader, Cllr Richard Foster (Cons), in the absence of council leader, Cllr Chris Knowles-Fitton (Cons).