THE three councillors who were elected to Workington Town Council in May and now find their positions 'unsound' due to a breach in law when they signed their acceptance forms have spoken out about the debacle.

As things stand, the councillors have lost their seats and will either need to be co-opted to the council or face another election.

The situation has meant that independent Patricia Poole, conservative Jaqueline Kirkbride and Labour's Ellie Wood have all lost their seats on the town council.

In a statement , Conservative councillor Jacqueline Kirkbride said: "On May 6 I was democratically elected to Workington Town Council - the first Conservative councillor elected to the council in a decade.

"Prior to the election, an extraordinary meeting had been called to award contracts for the refurbishment of the new town hall.

"I duly reported for duty at that meeting, where I was refused entry.

"That refusal meant that I was unable to sign my declaration of acceptance as the law required, and has directly led to the events we see today.

"To say I am deeply disappointed is an understatement, and I will continue my fight to represent you in the inevitable upcoming by-election."

Independent councillor Patricia Poole said: "At this moment in time I don't wish to make a comment. I am awaiting to find out whether we are going to have a by-election or if we will be co-opted onto the council."

Labour councillor Ellie Wood said she was barred from the meeting on May 11.

She said: "I am disgusted at their behaviour and I really think that they need to make a full apology to the people of Salterbeck, who thought that they had elected me to serve for them on the town council.

"I think we are going to wait and see the legal advice that comes out because I think it's being looked at at the moment.

"I think that people are trying to push us to go into a co-opted but after all of this I don't trust them to do it properly."

In a statement issued this week, a spokesperson for Workington Town Council said that the original advice they'd received suggested that the councillors were eligible to continue in their roles.

However, they had since received updated guidance which said that as the councillors signed their Declaration of Acceptance after the May 11 meeting, their positions were 'unsound'.