CREWE councillors have called for the government to lift the ban on remote council meetings.

They claim their health is under threat if they are forced to carry on meeting in person while coronavirus infection rates rise.

Cheshire East Council held its first face-to-face full council meeting for more than a year on Tuesday.

Members of the borough authority and Crewe Town Council returned to meeting rooms and committee rooms last month, although Cheshire East's full council had to be held at Macclesfield Leisure Centre to ensure social distancing was maintained.

A statutory instrument allowing councils to switch to online meetings at the onset of the pandemic was not extended, forcing councillors out of zoom rooms and teams meetings.

Crewe's Labour councillors believe the only way of guaranteeing their safety is to return to holding virtual meetings, which they say have, overall, been a success.

Cllr Hazel Faddes said: "The removal of the ability to hold council meetings virtually is yet another example of the government's failure to "follow the science".

"The Delta Variant has led to a huge spike in cases of Covid-19 in Cheshire East, and restrictions are still in place on social gatherings across the country. However, according to the government, having 82 councillors, plus council officers and the public, in one room, is totally fine."

Fellow Crewe East councillor Suzanne Brookfield says "the success" of virtual Meetings cannot be understated as they improve visibility and transparency when it comes to decision making as they are more accessible to the public, who can access them online.

So far Cheshire East has not held any face-to-face meetings in Crewe since before last year's lockdown.

"They improve councillor attendance, save on costs, and support our green agenda," said Cllr Brookfield. "The overwhelming majority of councils support being able to have these powers permanently, and we hope the government will see sense and allow us to hold virtual meetings again."

A study by the Local Government Association of 243 councils found most felt remote meetings should be continued, citing benefits such as "increased public interest and participation".

The councillors are members of Cheshire East's Labour group which raised concerns about Chelford councillor Marc Asquith's attempt to attend Tuesday's meeting after apparently testing positive for Covid-19.

The Conservative councillor, who was instructed to stay away by the borough's Conservative group, later claimed he'd misread his test result, but fellow councillors said he was setting a "dangerous and irresponsible precedent" and was showing no regard for his colleagues' health.

The Labour group says the issue would not have arisen had the government extended the legislation on remote meetings.