Councillors are investigated

Six Shropshire town councillors including a mayor are being investigated after allegedly breaching confidential information.

It is understood that South Shropshire District Council's standards committee met with the six Ludlow Town Council members on Monday afternoon and all six, including the mayor and deputy mayor could be suspended.

Now the councillors – mayor Jim Newbold, deputy mayor Derek Davies, Mickey Bradley, Amanda Pope, Marie Glaze and Tony Pound – have been told a decision will be in the hands of the Adjudication Panel for England.

It is an independent tribunal, established by the Local Government Act 2000, which hears and determines references about the conduct of local authority councillors.

John Palmer, a spokesman for Shropshire Council which is overseeing the issue as the district council made the switch to unitary today, said: "We are unable to comment at this time because this was held in an exempt session."

But Councillor Bradley, who resigned yesterday in protest said he felt it was clear they had been suspended.

He said: "There were six of us and six of us are not deaf. It was made very plain that we were all suspended for one month if we wrote a letter of apology to the council and for three months if we did not.

"We were investigated for breaching of confidential information. But I don't think matters concerning the public's money should be confidential."

Veronica Calderbank, monitoring officer at South Shropshire District Council until yesterday, said no suspension could be made without referring the matter.

As of today none of the councillors had received notification and some said they were confused.

Deputy mayor Derek Davies said as far as he was concerned he was not a councillor at present: "I was told I was suspended until something contrary comes my way."

But fellow councillor Tony Pound said: "There is no letter sent out and nobody was suspended. I left the meeting before the decision was taken."

The other councillors involved said they were not able to comment.

By Catherine Roche and Sophie Bignall