DUDLEY Council has refused to confess how much taxpayers' cash is being spent on the glass feasibility study.

Stourbridge resident Major Robbins urged Tory council bosses to declare the cost of the study - being carried out by L&R Consulting - at last night’s joint meeting of Brierley Hill and Stourbridge Area Commitees at Wordsley Community Centre.

But director of the urban environment John Millar said the information was “commercially sensitive” and could not be released.

With legal advisor Helen Kidd adding: “It’s right and proper for the council not to reveal that information.”

However Major Robbins disagreed, saying:: “It’s not now commercially sensitive - the contract has been placed. We need to know how much this consultation is costing.”

Kingswinford councillor Dave Tyler later told the meeting he too had not been privvy to the consultants’ fees - but said he didn’t think there would be “much change out of £30,000”.

Stourbridge councillor Les Jones, Dudley’s deputy leader, defended the council’s decision to commission the study, saying: “Yes we could do anything on a shoestring, but this is too important to rely on people whose day job isn’t to look at the wider aspects of this issue.”