Dyfed Powys Police has ordered an investigation two Welsh councils for making unlawful cash payments into the pension pots of town hall chiefs.

The decision to invite Gloucestershire Constabulary to conduct enquiries follows the publication of recent damning reports from the Wales Audit Office into senior arrangements at Pembrokeshire CC and Carmarthenshire CC.

Last month, assistant auditor for Wales, Anthony Barrett, censured Pembrokeshire for acting unlawfully in allowing Bruce  Parry-Jones and another senior officer to receive £51,011 cash sums, the equivalent to employers' pension contributions, for opting-out of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) arrangements.

Mr Barrett also castigated Carmarthenshire for not only allowing its chief executive Mark James a £27,000 pensions opt-out but for also granting him legal indemnity in a libel counterclaim.