A £200,000 a year contract for the services of transport boss James Duncan is set to be terminated by the end of June, Bournemouth Council has revealed.

Cllr Robert Lawton, cabinet member for environment and economy, told the meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday night that it had “never intended at the outset to be a long-term solution”.

The answer was prompted by a question from Cllr Ron Whittaker who asked when the post of Transportation Services Manager would be advertised.

He added: “Since February we have continued to pay these totally unacceptable agency fees and by today’s council meeting a further period of almost three months will have passed. How many more months will this situation continue adding to that £200,000 plus?”

Cllr Lawton replied: “The agency staff filling the Transportation Manager’s post will be terminated at the earliest opportunity subject to the contract between the council and the agency, his work assignments and recruiting a suitable member of staff.

“Within the last 12 months the council has sought to recruit to the post, however the recruitment process was unsuccessful.

“Unfortunately there continues to be a shortage of suitably qualified and experienced people in this field.

“I recognise that this is an undesirable solution. We have consistently said that the current arrangement will be terminated at the earliest opportunity and we can confirm we anticipate this will be by the end of June.”

Adverts will be placed next month subject to “establishing the appropriate salary”, he added.

Speaking afterwards, Cllr Lawton said that by ensuring that the post was filled the council had successfully accessed funds for measures designed to save children’s lives outside schools including the camera car.