A COUNCIL leader has been criticised for tweeting during a council meeting.

Cllr John Cadwell (Cons, Hiltingbury East) brought up the issue at a full Eastleigh Borough Council meeting, saying that on a previous occasion leader of the council Cllr Keith House, pictured, had been putting up tweets – comments made on Internet site Twitter – while the Conservative opposition had been speaking.

He brought the issue up while commenting on the council’s budget at the latest full council meeting, saying, although Cllr House was unable to be at the meeting because of a family emergency, maybe his comments could be relayed to him through tweets. He then said: “We read what Cllr House was tweeting during the council meeting instead of attending to what us Conservatives are saying.”

Deputy leader Cllr Anne Winstanley responded that Cllr House was able to multi-task.

Following the meeting Cllr House responded saying: “If a Conservative councillor makes a daft statement, it’s good to get it out quickly! If anything Cllr Caldwell is open to criticism for not embracing technology and communicating.”