TOWN council meetings in Didcot should be live-streamed to make the body more transparent, according to a councillor.

Neville Harris, an independent councillor for Ladygrove, is calling on the council to buy equipment which would allow people to follow meetings online, and has claimed some residents of the town have offered to chip in.

But questions have been raised over whether anyone would use the service after similar schemes in other parts of the county were scrapped.

Mr Harris’ motion on the topic was deferred by councillors last week and will now be presented to the finance committee instead, because of its cost implications.

The motion stated: “To further the cause of clarity through transparency and to increase the involvement and interest of the town’s residents in the work of the town council...the council should introduce a webcasting system which will include digital audio and visual recording of its meetings and live streaming.

“Such a move would demonstrate the council’s determination to achieve a significant increase in the numbers of residents participating in its proceedings.”

Mr Harris remains committed to the idea, despite the set-back, and is convinced it would be worth the estimated £500 he thinks it would cost.

He said: “We have got to take every opportunity we can to get people more interested in things that affect them.

“This would be a small step towards achieving that.

“We used to have 15-20 members of the public come along to every meeting but they have disappeared.

“People lead busy lives and can’t always come to meetings so would value being able to follow what is going on from home.

“I’ve spoken to a number of people who think this is a good idea.

“It’s not in the thousands but this is the right thing to do and I will keep fighting for it.”

Leader of the council, Bill Service, said no one had ever said to him that he should be streaming its meetings.

South Oxfordshire District Council has stopped live streaming after the audience was as low as zero for some meetings, according to Mr Service.

He said: “I think we are fully transparent already.

“Everything except commercially sensitive information is available for anyone to read online.

“I just don’t think there is a need for this.”