91Èȱ¬

The suspension of four staff members at Swansea University is linked to under-fire plans to build a £200m Wellness Village, it has been claimed.

Swansea council leader Rob Stewart said he was told the probe related to concerns over the Delta Lakes proposal.

Vice-chancellor Prof Richard B Davies, dean of the school of management Prof Marc Clement, and two others were suspended in November.

No specifics were given on exactly what the links were.

Prof Davies and Prof Clement are suspended on full pay, but the university has refused to say why any of the members of staff have been suspended.

Mr Stewart made the revelation at a meeting of the Swansea Bay City Region joint committee and said its own review into the matter would run in parallel to a UK and Welsh Government probe into the management and structure of all 11 projects in the £1.3bn city deal.

He told the meeting in Carmarthen the review was needed to reassure partner organisations and ensure "additional confidence" the projects were ready.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Stewart said: "There is a specific concern within Swansea University about part of what they've been doing and that is for the university to resolve.

"Our job as joint committee and my job as chair is to make sure that I assure ourselves that everything that has been done in the city region is correct."

The government probe is due to be completed by January and Mr Stewart said it would not hold up any projects.

An opposition councillor has called for the Wellness Village project in Llanelli to be investigated by the Wales Audit Office.

It will be funded with £40m from the UK and Welsh governments through the Swansea Bay City Deal - subject to the business case - £32m from Carmarthenshire council and needs to raise £128m from the private sector.