COUNCIL chiefs are to face demands for an inquiry into the massive cost of suspending teacher Anthony McNally for almost nine years.

Mr McNally was removed from his £30,000-a-year post at Woodhey High School in Ramsbottom, Bury, in March 1995, after a pupil made an unproven allegation of "inappropriate touching".

He remained on suspension until last week when a deal was struck with the local authority to allow him to resign. During this time bosses at the school have been unable to replace the experienced teacher and pupils have been taught by supply staff - at massive expense to Bury education authority.

The legal costs of the wrangle, which included rulings by two Secretaries of States, a judicial review and an appeal hearing in the High Court, is estimated at more than £1m - enough to fund two primary schools for a year or meet 40 per cent of Woodhey's annual running costs.

Liberal Democrat councillors in Bury say they will make sure there is an inquiry into the amount of time taken to investigate the claims against Mr McNally and the cost to the council taxpayer. "We will be expecting an inquiry and if it isn't forthcoming then we will be requesting one," said Lib Dem leader Coun Vic D'Albert.

Requests by the Manchester Evening News for a breakdown of the costs have been refused by council officials. But Coun D'Albert believes council taxpayers have a right to know.

He said: "It's in the public interest because it is public money. If people want to ask how it has come to so much, they have every right to do so."

However council leader Coun John Byrne said there were no plans to ask officials to account for their actions. He says disciplinary matters have to be left to professional staff and points to the authority's ranking among the top performers in the country.

A council spokesman added: "This matter is clearly a complex one that has challenged the legal framework within which the school, the education authority and the Secretary of State for Education operate.

"Inevitably when matters have included referrals to the very top of the judicial process considerable time and expense has been involved. The council has a range of legal responsibilities in this case to children, staff, the school and to the Secretary of State. We have tested and exercised those within the framework and the parameters of the law."

Schools Minister Ivan Lewis, who is also MP for Bury South, says he continues to have full confidence in Bury council.

"This is an incredibly complex situation," he said. "Bury has been identified as one of the best LEAs in the country and I have total confidence in the judgement and integrity of the leadership of that organisation."

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