West Felton Councillor Edward Nicholas was brought before the standards sub committee after he wrote he would 'squash local campaigners like dung flies' and would like a "machine gun set at his table."

Speaking after the hearing Cllr Nicholas said: "I am pleased that the Standards Board judged the circumstances of the case to be such that no sanctions were necessary and hope that West Felton Parish Council will now be left in peace to get on with its work."

But Cllr Nicholas was found by the sub-committee to have breached the Code of Conduct, by "failing to treat others with respect and conducting himself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing his office or authority into disrepute."

The investigation centred around the contents of two emails mistakenly sent to the wrong people, and comments made by the chairman in which he referred to anti mobile phone mast campaigners as an "Avenue Mob" for which he later made an apology.

In one email, Cllr Nicholas wrote: "...members of the public attending are a damn nuisance, and nothing but an obstruction to good discussion and decision making in a parish council. I told Ian (Hutchinson, parish clerk), at the end of the meeting that if I couldn't ban them then I would like a machine gun set up on the top table..."

Among the comments in a second email he wrote: "...the fightback starts here, and if they dare to show their obnoxious faces at the next meeting I for one will be looking to get well stuck in, chairman or not, and squash them like the dung flies that they are."

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