Last week's marathon session of Falkirk Council was the longest in a decade. It started at 10.30 a.m. and was finally abandoned at 10 p.m. – with 14 items of business still to be discussed.

And the leader of the SNP group warned such jaw-dropping sessions could become the norm.

Town Hall veteran David Alexander admitted his party was responsible for 14 of the 22 items on the agenda – including four notices of motion continued from the full meeting in March.

But he insisted: "It's in the best interests of democracy for the Labour-led admin-istration to face a robust opposition. Last Wednesday's all-day sitting was the result of their bad management."

Councillor Alexander claimed: "No-one on the Labour benches wants to take responsibility for running the council. They rely too heavily on council officers coming up with reports, but the SNP is doing its job by holding the administration to account and demanding issues are subject to debate and proper scrutiny.

''The Labour attitude seems to be 'why bother with that process, we
have the votes', but that is unacceptable. We have won some concessions including stopping 650 private houses being built at Longcroft and full council support for a sprinkler system in the new Larbert Hospital."

Council leader Linda Gow accused Mr Alexander of mischief making, saying: "The SNP is offering disruptive, not constructive, opposition.

''We are paying a lot of senior officers to attend these meetings into the night when their time would be better spent running their depart-ments during the day."

The business not dealt with last week has been continued to a special meeting, to be held before the end of the month.