A WEST Somerset councillor has offered to co-operate if an inquiry is held into an alleged confrontation with a protester as Somerset Council met to agree its 2024-25 budget this week.

Somerset Cllr Rosemary Woods, who represents Watchet and Stogursey, was confronted by wheelchair-bound Tasleem Haysham shouting aggressively at her through a megaphone.

Cllr Woods pushed the megaphone aside prompting Ms Haysham to claim she had tried to snatch it away and accuse her of damaging a protest sign.

Ms Haysham was among dozens of protesters lobbying councillors outside the Canalside conference centre, in Bridgwater.

Union members protest budget cuts outside a meeting of Somerset Council.
Union members protest budget cuts outside a meeting of Somerset Council. (Sarah Baker)

The budget included £35 million of cuts to local services, up to 1,200 job losses, and other cost saving measures.

Ms Haysham accosted councillors making their way into the venue and became ‘heated’ in her conversation with Cllr Woods.

She told Cllr Woods: “The council is underfunded, we disabled people are suffering at this end.”

When Cllr Woods moved to talk to other protesters, Ms Haysham shouted through her megaphone: “She could not answer my questions so she walks away.”

Cllr Woods returned to tell Ms Haysham her mother-in-law had died recently after receiving end-of-life care as part of the council’s work with the NHS.

But Ms Haysham shouted through the megaphone: “We have got four disabled members in the family, and we cannot get the care we need.”

Ms Haysham said later: “I am disabled and in a wheelchair. It is a disgraceful way to behave for an elected representative of Somerset Council towards a Somerset resident.”

Cllr Woods said after the meeting: “I pushed the megaphone away from myself, she pushed it in my face.

“I was quite willing to listen to her but she did not give me a chance to speak.

“I was trying to explain to her I had recently been bereaved, and end-of-life care was provided by the NHS.

“She would not listen to me, I could not carry on the conversation.”

Cllr Woods said she would co-operate if any complaint was made to the council’s monitoring officer, who investigates allegations councillors may have breached their code of conduct.