COUNCILLORS have agreed to pay nearly £50 after the Mayor of Wellington took too much luggage on a civic trip to Portugal.

Members of Wellington Town Council agreed to refund the Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, with £48 after she had to pay extra for checking in with more than the permitted weight limit for her suitcases.

She asked the council’s finance committee last week if it would stump up the charge after her luggage was 3.5kg over the required weight limit on her flight from Bristol Airport.

Cllr Lloyd left the meeting while colleagues discussed the subject – with some appearing less than comfortable about agreeing to the request.

After a noticeable and awkward silence Deputy Mayor Cllr Mark Lithgow said: “Personally, I would pay for it out of my own pocket.”

Cllr John Thorne said: “It’s unfortunate that the Mayor has come up against a jobsworth at the airport.”

He reminded colleagues that they had already funded the return airfare of £361.94 to Wellington’s twin Portuguese town of Torres Vedras so the Mayor and her husband could attend the town’s Carnival at the end of February in an official civic capacity.

But, in defence of the Mayor, Cllr Thorne added: “It’s difficult to weigh suitcases on the kitchen scales.” Cllr Dean Bradley said the council should pay the £48 as the Mayor was carrying gifts to their Portuguese friends on behalf of the council.

And Cllr Mike McGuffie said ‘accidents do happen’ when weighing suitcases, although Cllr Vivienne Stock-Williams said she would have paid the charge herself.

Cllr Andrew Govier said: “It is not worth causing an upset over. We are talking about £48 – not £480.”

Councillors voted narrowly in favour of meeting the cost with Cllrs Govier, McGuffie, Pringle-Kosikowsky and Bradley all giving the Mayor their support, while Cllrs Thorne, Lithgow and Stock-Williams abstained from saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

The decision was later verified by the full council – although some councillors, who had not been at the earlier finance committee, burst out laughing when they heard about the Mayor’s request.

The Mayor had said her luggage was still over the weight limit for the flight home from Portugal but on that occasion it had been overlooked at the check-in desk.