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Opposition councillors have hit out at plans for an office extension in Wallasey town hall for the Labour spin doctor who masterminded the defeat of former minister Esther McVey.

The authority had already come under fire for recruiting PR consultant Martin Liptrott – with Tory leader in Wirral Jeff Green describing the appointment as “jobs for the boys”.

Mr Liptrott had been made an ‘Executive Policy Officer’ on a salary of £45,737, effectively working alongside Wirral council leader Phil Davies.

Previously he worked for Labour’s Margaret Greenwood who took the Wirral West seat at the General Election last May, defeating incumbent Conservative MP Esther McVey.

Now Wirral Tories says that the office Mr Liptrot has been using for the last six months is to be extended following his appointment to the new job.

The Tories say town hall officials had claimed there is no other suitable accommodation within the Wallasey complex – and the work is being undertaken at the request of the Leader of the council.

Cllr Green said: “Why is this unnecessary work taking place? Just so Martin Liptrot can be in bigger room next to the leader of the council.

“I urge everyone to remember the next time Cllr Davies blames the Government for austerity and cuts in services he found £48,000 to accommodate a political ally.”

A council spokesman said: “There is ongoing work to bring the offices within the town hall up to standard. This work has resulted in the council being able to relocate large numbers of staff from other buildings, freeing up other sites to be renovated and/or sold.”

A Labour source told the ECHO that Mr Liptrot’s 5ft office is being expanded to take in an area currently used for a coffee machine and added: “You can understand why he probably wants a bit more privacy.”

Mr Liptrot’s appointment had already angered Wirral’s Tory opposition group whose leader Cllr Green said it “smacks of ‘jobs for the boys’ at a time when council staff across the Borough are being told that there is no money left”.

He said: “Cllr Davies ordered the creation of this role which the net result is a political campaigner moved off the Labour group’s books and onto the council’s.”

A Wirral council spokesman said it was “not at all unusual for a council leader to have dedicated support in relation to policy development and is in fact not uncommon practice in local authorities around the UK”.