TWO Worcester councillors are embroiled in a disagreement over a Tory "takeover" at County Hall - with a former city leader saying it is "dangerous" to try and do two jobs.

Councillor Adrian Gregson, who leads the city's Labour group, says he is concerned about the number of Worcester politicians taking on top jobs at Worcestershire County Council.

Last week Councillor Marc Bayliss secured a promotion to the Conservative leadership at County Hall, taking on the role as cabinet member for transformation and commissioning.

The Tory is also the deputy leader of Worcester City Council, where he takes responsibility for economic prosperity.

It now means three city council cabinet members, the other two being Simon Geraghty and Lucy Hodgson, are now part of the nine-strong leadership table at County Hall.

Councillor Gregson said: "It's really dangerous, nobody knows what they are getting on with or what 'hats' they have got on when they go to city council meetings.

"And what about the time element? My concern is, they won't be able to prioritise, there'll be no sense of what comes first.

"We're trying to deal with congestion at city-level but the county council obviously isn't agreeing with us - we've had situations where the county council has cut voluntary grants and we've had to pick issues up from it.

"There are so many areas where things cross over and policies pursued from County Hall aren't pursued here.

"We're in danger of being run from County Hall, we're just a 'satellite' for them."

The criticism has been refuted by the Conservatives, which says it is good for Worcester to have so many city-based politicians in high-ranking County Hall roles.

Councillor Geraghty and Councillor Hodgson have been in both cabinets for some time.

Councillor Bayliss said: "I'm afraid as normal with Adrian he's got this completely wrong, there's no problem in doing both roles.

"He seems to have no problem with Labour members in prominent positions, he's no issue with Paul Denham being on both councils, had no problem when Geoff Williams stood for the county council (in the 2013 elections) - we even had one who could have combined being an MP with a city councillor (Joy Squires, who stood for parliament earlier this month).

"It's pure sour grapes, after the elections he's thrashing around trying to find something to moan about.

"I'll be devoting my time to both the city and county (councils) and making sure the voice for Worcester will be strong."