FORMER long-serving councillor for Bishops Castle, Peter Phillips, has donated his papers to posterity.

He has deposited 25 large files for future historians to study.

Mr Phillips said the collection would have been bigger had he not been a self - confessed ‘IT dinosaur’ who does not ‘do e-mail.’ The papers he has deposited cover the period between 2006 and 2011 when he stood down from the council.

The files largely deal with his work with people living locally but also includes some correspondence during part of the period between 1999 and 2009 when he was leader of the Liberal Democrat group.

“During these years we were in opposition and there were some decidedly uncomfortable passages,”

Mr Phillips said.

Mr Phillips has already deposited a number of collections in the county archives, including campaigning issues like aircraft noise and the struggle for the SpArc centre in Bishops Castle.

“I held my first meeting on that in 1981 – it was opened in 2006,” he added.

He has also deposited 15 years of minutes and notes concerning the Lib Dem group meetings and those covering periods of coalition with Labour and Independents.

“I do hope that if a researcher comes along, my colleagues will not be too precious over confidentiality.

It would be good for the public to see how their council runs,” he said.

“Maybe our national leadership should have consulted council leaders on how to operate a coalition as we had been doing it for years.”