DAILY Echo readers have given their backing to the senior officer suspended by Bournemouth council.

Chief accountant Stephen Parker was escorted out of the Town Hall after listing a series of criticisms about the council’s outsourcing deal with Mouchel in an email to councillors.

He told them he was raising concerns because he had not been given the opportunity to communicate his fears as part of a report and accompanying papers going before a cabinet meeting – despite being deputy 151 officer, responsible for “ensuring lawfulness and financial prudence of decision making”.

His e-mail warned of “serious doubts about the value for money and deliverability of the contract” and said a rival in-house bid from council staff had not been properly considered.

Online readers at bournemouth echo.co.uk sprang to his defence and steveatbournemouth said: “Shame on the council. As deputy 151 officer it’s his job to tell it how it is. This is all wrong.”

Perry_Winkle added: “This man should receive the fullest possible backing of his union to highlight the injustice”.

Another reader said: “If everyone opposed to the deal is suspended and unable to comment in these situations, who will be the voice of reason?”

Fiona Dea-Pea said: “Stephen Parker retained his personal integrity and common sense in a dysfunctional environment that demands conformity and obedience – disgrace way to treat him and a form of bullying.”

The transfer of work to the private sector is causing concern in councils up and down the country.

Yesterday a study found that few public sector managers believed that oursourcing led to improved services; 100 human resources managers took part in the Totaljobs.com poll and, while two-thirds said outsourcing cut costs, only one in four said it would deliver better services.

On Tuesday, hundreds of council workers at Barnet council in London staged a 24-hour strike in a dispute over plans for an outsourcing programme.