CAERPHILLY’S leader Harry Andrews survived a no confidence motion following a heated full council meeting last night.

The opposition Plaid Cymru group brought the motion against leader Harry Andrews following the damning Wales Audit Office report into huge pay rises for senior officers.

Five Plaid Cymru members proposed the motion with Cllr Colin Mann saying the chief executive, Anthony O' Sullivan is under suspension for the "debacle" and Cllr Andrews must also be accountable for an "unmitigated shambles".

He called Cllr Andrews "out of touch"with employees and local people, saying: "It has been a disastrous failure by the leader."

Former leader Lindsay Whittle also supported the motion "with a heavy heart", although he called Cllr Andrews "a great man".

He said: "We are an authority in disrepute, it's been a PR disaster, we're belittled and one preorder authorities."

Fellow Plaid member Martyn James alluded to possible further party action over the issue.

He said: "If there was a Caerphilly council vote today, there'd be a lot of different faces in this chamber", before adding: "Whether that is will be possible, remains to be seen".

He added: "We have become a laughing stock."

Plaid Cymru were blasted by the dominant Labour group for bringing the motion, with deputy leader Gerald Jones telling them to "get out of the sewer" and to help get the local authority back on track.

Co-deputy leader Keith Reynolds accused Plaid of "milking" the pay situation "for political gain".

Cllr Robin Woodyatt said: "[Cllr Andrews] eats, sleeps and works for this authority and does more work in a week than those criticising do in a year."

The motion was defeated by 43 votes to 15, with a huge cheer as Cllr Andrews got up to speak after.

He said the council has "some serious work to do" in the next year, promising "we will sort things out".

Cllr Andrews said; "We will do our best to clear the decks. We recognise there was a failure, but we have made a positive start and we will finish in the next 12 months on the majority of our objectives."