SEVERAL Redditch councillors still want an apology from their colleagues over the financially disastrous AIR Festival.

The 2005 music festival resulted in more than £664,000 of taxpayers' money being spent.

Following recommendations from the council's monitoring officer, councillors Carole Gandy and Mike Brailey said the council had been brought into disrepute and certain councillors should apologise.

After appalling ticket sales for concerts by Jools Holland, Lemar, Natasha Bedingfield and Liberty X, the Labour group decided to give away the tickets free.

Conservative group leader Mrs Gandy said: "There was a complete failure to follow rules, which led to maladministration.

"Decisions were not taken forward for discussion at executive or full council. Decisions were made by a few councillors who seemed to think they didn't need to consult their colleagues, which led to huge costs."

Conservative Mr Brailey said: "What we really need is for those responsible for the AIR Festival disaster to take responsibility and apologise."

He was angered by a comment from Labour councillor Rebecca Blake, who said she hoped the council could learn from the monitoring officer's recommendations so similar events could take place in the future.

Mr Brailey said: "I find comments like this so antagonising. This brought the council into disrepute and that's what the Ombudsman will see.

"We have a lot of local talent and should showcase it but we should never again hold an event like last year's AIR Festival."

The recommendations included re-examining the council's constitution, which governs how the council operates, how decisions are made and what procedures should be followed.

Any future panels or review groups involving councillors should know from the outset exactly what is to be done and how work must be reported.

The council can delegate matters to officers to carry out on its behalf but officers should know exactly what they are being asked to do and must record their actions and decisions so there is a clear audit trail.

A further recommendation says a system needs to be set up to make sure the right people are making decisions at the right time and that there is a record of their decisions.