£500-a-day legal chief leaves Wolverhampton City Council

But Wolverhampton City Council has revealed it will be replacing Wendy Trainor with another temporary head of legal services - and is looking to merge the department with another authority.

It comes as the council axes 2,000 jobs as it tries to save £123 million over five years.

There were calls today for answers as to why Ms Trainor has left and why no permanent head of service has been found.

Councillor Wendy Thompson, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said: "The legal department does vital work.

"The council has to look very carefully at this plan as it may well be better to keep it in house rather than working with someone else."

Ms Trainor was appointed at a cost of £500 a day in April 2013 to replace former chief legal officer Susan Kembrey who left her £83,150-a-year post in December 2012.

The council said at the time that Ms Trainor's role was to continue until September last year but she has only just left.

Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "Wendy Trainor has left her interim position at the council. The post hasn't yet been filled permanently because the council is now exploring the possibility of running legal services on a shared service model with another authority. A new interim head of legal services will be appointed in the very near future to lead on this piece of work."

The council has declined to say why Ms Trainor has left and she could not be reached for comment.

Wolverhampton City Council has various legal issues to deal with, including anything from planning matters to pursuing benefits cheats.

The council went through a cull of some of its highest earning posts in 2011. Three out of four directors answering to chief executive Simon Warren left. Two of them were made redundant and another retired. The council then employed two interim directors on £800-a-day, dropping the rate to £785-a-day in 2012 before recruiting permanent bosses.