A COUNCILLOR is set to be ousted from a key position after he reignited a row about the state of Southbourne beach.

Roger West stands accused of making "irresponsible comments" about the shingle, stones and flints left on Southbourne shoreline.

He now faces a vote of no confidence at a special meeting tomorrow evening.

Cllr West, a Liberal Democrat councillor, infuriated the ruling Conservative group by using his position as chair of the environment and economy scrutiny panel to bring up the beach replenishment scheme.

He branded the multi -million-pound project "a ghastly error" and demanded to know what went wrong.

But leader of the council Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin said all he had done was create negative publicity that threatened to harm the town's tourist trade.

He said Cllr West's comments were "beyond comprehension" and said panel members were left with "no option" but to replace him as chairman.

"Bournemouth residents are entitled to expect councillors will behave responsibly and consider the reputation of the council and the town in what they do and say," he said.

"This action will send out a strong message that councillors care about the interests of the town."

Fellow Conservative councillor Mark Anderson, who has proposed the move of no confidence, said he believed Cllr West was trying to use the panel to pursue his own political agenda.

He said other panel members were "upset and incensed" after Cllr West overrode their concerns and persisted in posing questions about the coastal defence programme to the wrong cabinet member.

But Cllr West said he was "disappointed" with the move. "I purposely held off asking any questions until after the summer so as not to disrupt the peak tourism period," he said.

"I wanted to seriously explore what we are going to do about our beach. It is too important an issue to brush under the table. Scrutiny should be challenging, it should not be political."

And Cllr Claire Smith, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: "This is ridiculous. It is a witch hunt against Roger.

"He is saying that the contractors got it wrong and asking what we are going to do about it. That is acting like a good councillor as far as I am concerned. He is being penalised for sticking up for his residents."

Independent councillor Ron Whittaker, who is also a member of the environment and economy scrutiny panel, said he would not be supporting the move.

"I have always found Roger a very good and able chairman. He knows his subject, he's very passionate about the environment and he goes into great detail and depth with his research.

"He has voiced genuine concerns about Southbourne beach and if anyone is in any doubt about the present situation they should go and have a look themselves. I had a look a few days ago and I share Roger's concerns."