A regional daily has revealed that councillors on its patch were gagged from speaking publicly about the departure of the authority’s chief executive.

The Birmingham Mail revealed Birmingham City Council’s chief lawyer had written to members, warning them against social media posts and public statements on the issue.

The instruction came after the authortiy’s Labour leadership was put under pressure by opposition Tories to explain the sudden departure of £180,000-a-year chief executive Mark Rogers just days before it sets its annual budget.

The Mail splashed on the revelation on Thursday, and has since won praise for the story from Trinity Mirror Regionals digital publishing director David Higgerson.

On his personal blog, he wrote: “If ever there was an example of how working hard to embrace readers wherever they are – print, digital, social etc – enables newsrooms to do what they’ve always done more effectively than ever, it’s this story.

“It made the front page, and that front page provided a compelling image for use on social media, where the link to the story was widely shared and commented upon – not just by journalists, but by councillors, politicians from elsewhere in the country and community groups in the city. The list of people and organisations sharing it was pleasingly diverse.

“It became a story read by tens of thousands of people in Birmingham, and a talking point in local government and Whitehall circles quickly. It demonstrated very clearly the power of the local Press to hold councils to account through the oxygen of publicity.

“For a council to believe it could control the commentary on an issue like this is, at best, very niave. Journalism has the tools to have the audience to do its job like never before – we just need to do that job in way the Birmingham Mail has over the past few days.”