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Wirral Tories could be investigated after submitting an official petition which appears to have been signed numerous times by the same councillors - and include names from countries as far away as New Zealand and Israel.

The petition - which concerns plans to allow a fire station to be built on greenbelt land in Saughall Massie - also appears to have less signatories than claimed and one elected member has his name down against THREE different addresses.

Council leader Phil Davies - who received the document from Wirral Conservative councillors Chris Blakeley, Bruce Berry and Steve Williams - has now written to the authority’s legal chief Phil McCourt, to ask if the fact several members have signed it numerous times - with some quoting different addresses for the same name - could constitute a breach of conduct.

Some of the more exotic addresses listed for the Saughall Massie issue include Alicante, Alberta, Auckland, Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, Tenerife and Tel Aviv.

In terms of Tory Councillors, the petition has been signed by Clatterbridge Cllr Adam Sykes three times, Heswall member Les Rowlands three times, Moreton West and Saughall Massie Cllr Steve Williams four times and his ward colleague Bruce Berry another four times.

Greasby, Frankby and Irby councillor David Burgess-Joyce has his name put down three times - for addresses in Wirral, Manchester and Walsall.

In his letter to the legal team, Cllr Davies wrote: “I attach a copy of a letter I received from Cllrs Blakeley, Berry and Williams regarding the transfer of land at Saughall Massie Road to Merseyside Fire Authority. This was discussed at Cabinet this morning.

“Attached to the letter is a petition purporting to be of 1,170 names asking Cabinet not to agree to dispose of this land.

“In fact, there are 816 signatures.

“On examining the petition, I discovered that there are duplicate, triplicate and, in some cases quadruple, entries of the same names.

“Some of these are elected members.

“A detailed examination of the petition also revealed that many of the signatories give addresses outside Wirral - indeed, some were registered as living outside the UK, eg. Alicante, Alberta, Tenerife, Auckland, Zdroisko, Brussels, Puerto Lumbreras, Michelstadt, Kuala Lumpur, Beverungen, Leinesfjord, Tel Aviv.”

He then asks for advice on whether the petition is valid and whether there are any issues “relating to member standards resulting from the fact that several elected members have signed the petition multiple times.”

He adds: “Is there an issue here about elected members setting high standards of openness and transparency?

“Could the fact that these members signed the petition a number of times be interpreted as an attempt to wilfully mislead, particularly given that the petition was presented to myself as the Leader of the Council in an attempt to influence the outcome of a Cabinet meeting, namely that the transfer of the land at Saughall Massie should be rejected?

“These are serious matters and I look forward to receiving your response to my questions.”

The ECHO has contacted Wirral Conservatives for a response.