A £60,000 document produced by a council was condemned as 'bureaucratic speak' by a councillor.

Coun John Birtwistle told a meeting of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council that, after reading the council's corporate improvement plan, he was 'none the wiser' as to what it meant.

Coun Birtwistle, who was elected in May, said: "I read this with a certain amount of concern. We were looking at policies and how things were going to be done but I haven't seen much policy being developed by councillors or much scrutiny."

He criticised the document, which cost £60,000 to draw up, for using the term 'customer' as a catch-all word to describe citizens, residents and visitors and added: "If you put this to members of the public would they be able to understand?

"I think we are losing the battle of communications. Can we not write these things in English? We should stop being so introspective and simply tell the people that put us here what we are doing."

Coun Nigel Reed added that the report was not explicit in its aims for the council.

Defending the plan, which was drawn up in response to criticism from an inspection of the council that took place earlier this year, Coun Brian Ellis said: "This is moving the council forward."

He asked councillors to consider the document as they would a plant. He said: "We have to make it flourish. This is not a project that can sit on the shelf gathering dust."

He added that it was a 'living document' that would be continuously revised. The corporate improvement plan sets out goals for a future council to 'put customers first', 'be transparent, open and inclusive', 'balance priorities with resources' and 'show it is effective'.

The council agreed to adopt the document and to use it to highlight areas where it could improve its services and its methods of working.