POLICE were called after a parish council meeting over grass cutting got out of hand.
The officers had to stay for more than an hour to take aside a member who refused to leave.
Lisa Martin, a parish councillor for the village of Werrington in Staffordshire Moorlands, ignored a vote for her to go during the exchange over the maintenance of grass verges.
There had been claims that some were being cut while others were left unkempt.
The clerk of the council called the police after Miss Martin refused to leave the building.
Miss Martin, 42, said: “Two police officers came in two cars which cost taxpayers money.
“I really have no idea what the fuss was all about. It all just got a bit nasty in the end and it was appalling that it came to this.
“I know I am not an angel, but I will not toe the line. Some of the councillors are against me, but it’s OK. I am tough.”
The spat arose after the village lengthsman, whose task is to keep a length of road tidy, began cutting some of the smaller verges, which would normally be maintained by Staffordshire county council.
Miss Martin said a villager had asked whether the grass in their area could also be cut by the lengthsman, which led to an argument over the cost.
“It seems to me to be more to do with the politics of things rather than getting the job done,” she said.
“I’m not the type of person to just sit there and nod my head. I will do what the residents want me to do and take it forward.”
David Shaw, the councillor who proposed the vote for Miss Martin to leave the meeting, said the argument had been “brewing for a long time”.
“I joined the council just under a year ago to try to prevent that kind of conduct and to try to bring some order to our sessions,” he said. “But this proves that I have failed miserably.”
Doris Palmer, a fellow councillor, said she was “absolutely disgusted” at the dispute.
Staffordshire Police confirmed that they were called to the meeting before 9pm on Monday.
A police spokesman said: “Officers attended and escorted a woman from the meeting.”
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