A formal complaint has been made against councillors Alan and Jean Willicombe who kept their jobs despite moving 150 miles away to Lincolnshire.

John Greenhill believes the Woodstock ward members have broken the council’s code of conduct.

They moved in October and have been replaced on some committees but are still councillors claiming allowances of more than £4,737 each.

Mr Greenhill states the couple “are not acting solely in terms of public interest” and “they are no longer in a position to deal with matters that require immediate and personal attention”.

Mr Willicombe says it’s pointless to force Swale to pay for a by-election when their ward is set to disappear in 2015 boundary changes.

The couple also told the News Extra they would be coming back to attend meetings.

However, they failed to attend a full meeting of the council last week, leading to groans from their colleagues.

Leader Cllr Andrew Bowles said: “I’ve had an email saying they will be at the next full council meeting in January.

“We will have to see if it can be made to work. I cannot see why it won’t.”

Mrs Willicombe would only say they continue to work for residents from their new home.