A NORTH Lancashire councillor has defended himself after being sanctioned for code of conduct breaches.

Cllr John Wild, who represents Bolton-le-Sands and Slyne, is to be publicly censured and recommended to undergo training in data protection after it was found he breached Lancaster City Council’s code of conduct.

The Bolton-le-Sands resident was called before the standards committee to answer allegations he had released personal and confidential information to the Lancaster Guardian newspaper - together with details of a previous standards investigation that had not yet been concluded.

The council said Cllr Wild also released the confidential investigation report, including identities and testimony of witnesses, to a number of people, including the media. He also failed to fully cooperate with the investigator by not attending for interview unless “certain unreasonable conditions were met”.

The standards committee unanimously agreed Cllr Wild had breached the code of conduct in relation to selflessness and accountability.

Cllr Wild, who owns fish and chip shop Tarnbrook Chippy in Heysham, told the Gazette: “I have raised concerns about the council’s lack of accountability, openness and waste of public money and expected my concerns to be addressed.

“Yes, I did send information to the Guardian because all my concerns were ignored; and yes, I did make several requests regarding the interview and expected to be treated fairly, not for my requests/questions to be completely ignored.

“I also asked for my initial meeting on January 16, 2020 to be held in public but the council called the police to have the public removed, despite the public who attended offering to leave the meeting if confidential information was to be discussed.

“Standards should not be for the bullying and intimidation of opposition councillors when they start asking awkward questions. The system should be open and transparent. Clearly this is not the case at Lancaster City Council. The question is, what is the council hiding?”

Cllr Mandy King, chair of the standards committee, said: “The public quite rightly expects councillors to uphold the highest of standards. Where these standards have not been met it is important we investigate and impose an appropriate sanction.”

Lancaster City Council said Cllr Wild is to be publicly censured in the committee’s minutes and also recommended to undertake further training on the councillors' code of conduct and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).