THE chairman of the fire authority has urged fellow councillors to move on from the £3,000 Mark Yates back operation row - insisting the saga is done and dusted.

Councillor Derek Prodger said the controversy over the chief fire officer's private back op, which he billed taxpayers for before paying the cash back, must be put to one side.

Cllr Prodger has come under renewed pressure from Labour politicians over the furore, who used a public meeting to ask the Tory chairman if he felt he "did the right thing" over the payment.

Back in March your Worcester News revealed how Cllr Prodger signed off the £3,000 reimbursement after a private meeting with three other fire authority members.

Mr Yates appeared before a meeting of Worcestershire County Council on Thursday, where the payment was brought up again.

Labour Councillor Luke Mallett said: "Just to remind people of the situation, £3,000 was paid to the chief fire officer on the authority of Cllr Prodger.

"The chief fire officer had the decency to do the right thing and pay it back, but I want to ask Cllr Prodger, given that this money was paid back, if it was a wise decision."

When he raised the matter, groans echoed across the chamber.

Cllr Prodger said a report presented to the full council on Thursday made "no mention" of the back operation at all.

He added: "We dealt with the request at the time rightly and properly, it did go to the group leaders (the other three members who attended the private meeting) and we've also debated this issue in the council chamber.

"I think it's right that we move on from this, I've nothing more to add."

Mr Yates had the operation in October last year after problems with his back made it impossible to function.

He opted to go private at the Spire South Bank Hospital in Worcester rather than wait on the NHS, saying it would get him back to work quicker.

The full cost was £5,090 and after submitting a claim to Cllr Prodger he was handed £3,000.

After it became public, Cllr Prodger said if Mr Yates went with the NHS there was a 12-week waiting list, and he would have required all that time off work.

The service argued that would have led to other staff being paid extra to cover his duties, potentially costing £8,500 had he been off for the whole 12 weeks, but the £3,000 was handed over before he went under the knife.

Mr Yates then decided to pay it back, saying he did not want it to detract from the reputation of the fire service.