The worst council of them all: Government steps in at Doncaster - VIDEO

The watchdog's emergency inspection ordered in the wake of the Edlington child torture case found the council was failing the people of Doncaster and had no hope ofputting itself in order without significant government intervention.

John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, quickly moved to accept the findings and confirmed he would use statutory powers to intervene.

He also said the "nuclear option" of taking over some or all the council's functions was "actively being considered" though it is thought a second option involving an independent improvement board, chaired by a government-appointee, remains the most likely outcome.

The Audit Commission's report depicted a council at war with itself, unable to accept the elected mayoral system and still failing the town's most vulnerable children.

The watchdog launched its snap corporate governance inspection in January shortly after the conclusion of the Edlington court case, which itself followed the deaths of seven vulnerable children known to the authority's children's services.

The viciousness of the near-fatal attack by two young brothers on two other children in Edlington shocked the country and there was outrage when a serious case review found it could have been prevented by intervention by the council, along with partner agencies.

Gareth Davies, the Audit Commission's managing director of local government, said the report was "the most hard-hitting we have ever produced" which he hoped would serve as "a wake-up call and a watershed".

The report itself traced the council's problems back to the Donnygate scandal of the late 1990s. Few areas of the council were spared, with criticism directed at some key councillors, though not by name, the elected English Democrat mayor, Peter Davies, and senior officers

It outlined a "dysfunctional" authority with councillors pre-occupied with political antagonisms over the mayor and mayoral system instead of the decline of services to local people.

In turn, "some of the behaviours adopted by the mayor... have failed to meet required standards..."

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Davies refused to take questions about the criticism levelled at him in the report, but read a prepared statement in which he said: "I look to all Doncaster councillors now to work with me in developing a vision for the town's future rather than putting politics before place and people.

"I have only been here for 10 months, and what I want is for a line to be drawn in the sand and for everyone in Doncaster to accept broadly the findings of this report, even if there are points of detail that we may all disagree with."

But there was immediate scepticism from Mr Davies's main political foes that a working relationship is possible.

Labour group leader Joe Blackham pinned the blame for Doncaster's failings on the mayor while Garth Oxby, the leader of the Independent Alliance, said the mayoral system itself was failing the town.

"I would like the Secretary of State to come up to Doncaster and sit at a table opposite me and I could show him what the New Labour mayoral system has done to our town," he said.

"We now have to try and work within that system, but we are hoping for a referendum and hope that the mayoral system will go as soon as possible."

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group Paul Coddington said: "Working with the mayor is on our agenda," but he added: "The truth is he is a maverick guy who never expected to get elected, and is a pretty naive politician. If he had come to us from the start and worked with us he may have got a different reaction."

Mr Denham's first move has been to appoint Rob Whiteman, the new chief executive of the local government improvement organisation IDeA, to chair an emergency advisory board to provide leadership and support to the acting Doncaster chief executive, Jo Miller. Further intervention will follow after a consultation process.

"ABSOLUTELY UNNACCEPTABLE"

Statement from John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government:

"I take very seriously the failure of Doncaster Local Authority – the mayor, cabinet, chief officers and councillors – to serve the people of Doncaster well.

From the outset, I have made it clear that I would take whatever action was necessary to look after the best interests of local people. I can make it clear. . .that I will use my statutory powers to intervene.

"The Audit Commission's report on Doncaster Council shows the severity of the problems in the local authority across the board and concludes that the local authority is failing the people of Doncaster, not just on one service or issue but in the very way it operates.

"This is absolutely unacceptable."