More than 100 council workers across the Black Country were sacked for misconduct within a year, new figures reveal.

A total of 115 staff left the four authorities in the region during 2010/11 for reasons including poor timekeeping and being absent without leave. Council bosses today said they were not concerned about the figures and insisted they were following the correct protocol.

Walsall Council had the highest number of dismissals in the region with 47 in 2010/11.

The authority would not give a breakdown of reasons for the departures, but council spokesman Richard Bolton said they were for a “variety of reasons due to disciplinary matters or poor timekeeping.”

At Wolverhampton City Council there were a total of 32 sackings in 2010/2011, including 15 cases of “medical dismissal”.

Council spokesman Tim Clark said these would occur when an employee had been “medically assessed by a doctor to be unfit to continue working”.

There were also eight incidents of misconduct, while seven were dismisses over their “capability” or performance, with two dismissals classified as “other”.

Sandwell and Dudley councils both sacked 18 staff each during this time period, but Sandwell refused to provide the Express & Star with the reasons why.

In Dudley reasons for dismissal included being “unsuitable for the role”,  absent without leave and failing to complete probationary periods.  Also, two left due to “security issues”, but the council would not reveal any more details.