A CONSERVATIVE councillor has jumped ship to join the Abolish the Assembly Party.

Powys County Councillor, Claire Mills, who represents the Llanyre ward, confirmed that she had left the group and would be sitting as a non-aligned councillor for now.

Cllr Mills said: “I have always been of the view that the Welsh Assembly was a level of bureaucracy that we didn’t need.

“I think the money would be much better used if it went direct to the local authorities.”

Read the full story in this week’s Brecon & Radnor Express.