Council leader 'bans' chief executive and senior staff

Coun Geoff Driver is understood to have requested LCC's chief executive Jo Turton and four other senior officers contact him on e-mail instead.

Meetings of the full council and its cabinet will not be affected, a county hall spokesperson said.

Leader of the opposition Labour group Coun Azhar Ali has written to the government criticising the move which appears to expose a significant rift between senior political and civil service staff.

He said: "I don't think this is an acceptable way to run what is the third or fourth largest authority in the country."

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: "We can confirm that these are the operational arrangements that have been put in place by the Leader of the County Council."

Coun Driver was confirmed as leader of the council just days after he was arrested and questioned by police in connection with the One Connect scandal in May.

The Conservative council leader was not available for comment on Wednesday morning.