A group has been launched in a bid to hold councillors and politicians to account.

Shropshire Friends has been set up by a group of like-minded individuals who say they will “expose public servants whose behaviour has fallen below the code of conduct.”

The group currently has more than a dozen members, but their identity is known only to administrator Paul Wiseman.

Mr Wiseman said group membership is confidential and by invitation only.

He said: “We needed a name for the group, and Shropshire Friends seemed to fit as it was non-confrontational, non-political but summed up our philosophy.”

The group was set up in June this year and has the motto ‘vigilantes sumus te’ which is translated as ‘we are watching you’.

He added: “The objective is to raise the standards of conduct of our elected representatives. Membership of the group is by invitation only.

“The group membership is confidential and the identities of members is known only to the administrator.”

Mr Wiseman said members of the group feed him information and then he carries out investigations into potential conduct breaches.

He added: “Members feed information to the administrator who analyses, assimilates and investigates as necessary and appropriate.

“The end result is exposure of public servants whose behaviour has fallen below the Code of Conduct.”