Dorset Council has been accused of becoming less democratic – limiting public questions to eight at council meetings.

Cllr Beryl Ezzard said that the changes from the original rules would result in "gagging the public".

She said there was only four times a year people could ask full council questions, in public, and this should not be limited to a 30-minute session, which also allowed time for the answers.

"I thinks this is gagging the public if we change these rules... we've got enough red tape as it is, there is no need to change it," she said.

Proposing changes to the rule Cllr Richard Biggs said that the council was getting so many public questions it "created its own issues" with regards to he timing of meetings.

He said that a cross-party group, as a result, was seeking changes to limit the number of questions or statement to eight.

Council leader Cllr Spencer Flower said there was nothing to stop the new rules being amended later, if they were found not to be working, or for the council chairman to take a lenient view on the limit, if appropriate.

Lyme Regis councillor Belinda Bawden asked for changes to the rules to allow someone who had asked an initial question to then be allowed a follow-up question, once the council's reply had been given.

She explained: "The rationale for this is that it could provide more engagement with the issue and ensure than members of the public felt that Dorset Council genuinely encouraged and valued public participation."

Opposition to her amendment came from Cllr Noc Lacey-Clarke, who claimed that most questions to the council were either "single-issue or grandstanding".

He said that if Cllr Bawden's amendment was approved, it would give up more time to those who were just seeking publicity.

"I don't think this will accomplish what Cllr Bawden is trying to do, which I support, trying to get more engagement," he said.

"This will just create a longer period of what I consider grandstanding."

Cllr David Tooke said he took issue with the idea that people came to the council to grandstand, commenting: "That's an offensive characterisation of the Dorset public."

"In all too many cases they don't get an answer," he continued.

"They get an answer, but not one which addresses the question and I think it's quite in order to pull that back to get a proper answer… they should be allowed to ask supplementaries."

With the amendment lost councillors then voted 53-15 for the rule change on public participation, reducing the number of public questions permitted to eight.