IT was meant to be the trip of a lifetime on a luxury cruise liner sailing to Hawaii, Rio de Janeiro and Easter Island.

But for Henley South county councillor Dr Peter Skolar it was also business as usual as he set up a mini-office to tackle problems back home with potholes, parking and train services.

Dr Skolar has come under fire for continuing to claim his £1,197 monthly allowance during a three- month South America and Pacific Grand Voyage aboard P&O’s luxury Aurora cruise liner.

The Conservative chairman of Oxfordshire’s joint health overview and scrutiny committee spent January, February and March on the high seas, but said he spent £200 on setting up a mini-office on the ship so he could continue to do constituency work from Rio de Janeiro, Easter Island and Honolulu.

The former GP said he had been advised to take his 95-day “holiday of a lifetime” this year by his hospital consultant, in case his health deteriorated because of a congenital heart defect.

He said: “I spent over £200 on a satellite phone and wi-fi from the ship. I had my iPhone on me, and I still haven’t had the bill for that, which will be dreadful . . .

“I was in constant contact with officers on health scrutiny and with constituents by email, which I picked up on my laptop on the ship.

“It was exactly the same as if I was working at home; it just cost me more.”

Dr Skolar, 66, said he had undergone heart valve surgery in 2003, and the valve would need to be replaced in the next year.

He said: “I was told that if I wanted to do this holiday, I should do it now while I am still capable of it.

“To anyone who says I shouldn’t have gone, I say: get a life. I was in just as much communication on the ship as at home.

“I am just not physically there, but does that make a difference anyway? The answer is no.”

He said he had tackled concerns over parking, First Great Western trainservices to Henley, and issues over potholes.

Dr Skolar, who said he would pay all his costs, sent his apologies to two meetings of the health scrutiny board he chairs.

Rivals attacked his holiday in the run-up to Henley Town Council elections, in which Dr Skolar lost his seat.

Former Henley mayor Ken Arlett said: “I pay about £2,000 in council tax to Oxfordshire County Council, and I do not wish to subsidise somebody going on a three-month holiday around the world. He has said he spent £200 to stay in touch, but that still leaves £3,400, which I think should have gone to charity.

“If somebody is going to take that much money, they should be working for it. Anybody can say they can pick up a telephone, but it is different from being on the spot where the issue is."