WHEN Wiltshire was named the fifth best council in the country by a national newspaper it was swift to publicise the accolade on its website.

There was, however, something about the story in the Daily Telegraph’s property section that it neglected to mention.

An estate agent quoted singing the council’s praises was the son of a Wiltshire cabinet member. Toby Sturgis, who represents Brinkworth, is in charge of strategic planning, development management, strategic housing, property and waste.

Rupert Sturgis, his son, works for Knight Frank in Cirencester, and the article was publicising properties for sale including a £2.25million farmhouse near Malmesbury, which is being marketed by the company.

The paper featured Wiltshire in a list of local authorities that are entitled to “give themselves a pat on the back”.

It said: “With no increases in council tax for the last four years, Wiltshire County Council [sic] has managed to keep leisure centres and libraries open. It has also been rolling out superfast broadband and increasing spending on road maintenance.”

Rupert Sturgis praised the council for working closely with the community in the Malmesbury area to draw up “a plan for future development”.

Council leader Jane Scott said on the council’s website that she was delighted to have been recognised and believes her administration offers value for money.

She said: “Like all local authorities, we have faced financial pressures with our funding from central government reducing at the same time as demands on our services increasing.

“We have adopted more innovative ways of working to ensure we can provide our residents with the services they need as part of our drive to create stronger, more resilient communities.”

However, Labour group leader Ricky Rogers, who represents Salisbury’s Bemerton ward, disagreed, saying the council has been very lucky to have benefited from the merging of the district councils.

He said: “If Wiltshire Council is the fifth best council in the country I am horrified to think what the worst one looks like. They are very fortunate to have merged into a unitary authority and saved a lot of money but no improvements have been made.

“I think that the loss of the district councils has eroded democracy and they have made some poor decisions.”

JOURNAL readers greeted the Telegraph’s verdict with derision.

More than 100 posted comments on our Facebook page, and not one of them was positive.

  • Miranda Parsons: “Are there only five councils in the UK?”
  •  Louise Styles: “Ha bit early for April fools lol.”
  • Jodie Russell: “Pahahahaha that's the most funniest thing I've read all day.”
  • Andrew Davies: “Ask the independent business owners of Salisbury for comments.”
  • Simon Harper: “Yes they are excellent and I think do a wonderful but hard job in the community. Oh wait.. No ... Wiltshire council you said? No... They’re cr*p.”
  • Karen Stafford: “Obviously no one from the Daily Telegraph lives in Salisbury/South Wiltshire....”
  • Gareth Brown: I'm hearing only four councils were actually polled.”