ALMOST all members of a Ross-on-Wye Town Council have been investigated for conduct violations following a spat about how its top posts had been allocated.

But the local authority’s monitoring officer has now declared that no councillor broke any rules.

The original complaint stemmed from an online post made by independent Ross Councillor Milly Boylan, who claimed members of the town council’s majority Liberal Democrat group had met ahead of its annual meeting to determine who among them would take the roles of mayor, deputy mayor and chairs of the council’s various committees.

At the annual meeting in May, members elected Cllr Linden Delves to the post of mayor.

Cllr Milly Boylan then put herself forward for the role of deputy mayor and said: “Historically in Ross, the deputy mayor becomes the mayor the following year. I fully support Cllr Delves in his new role

“However, I would like to put myself forward as deputy. I have worked tirelessly since being elected as councillor and truly feel that we should work together for the benefit of the town. I believe I would be a good representative for both the town council and our community. I would invite all councillors to support me. I believe I could help connect the council as its never been connected before.”

However, the councillors elected Cllr Sarah Freer as deputy mayor, having gained her position with the block support of their LibDem colleagues.

Cllr Boylan said afterwards: “It was always pointless me or anyone else who isn’t a Lib Dem going for any of these things.”

It has been disclosed in the published reports that an unnamed Liberal Democrat councillor had filed complaints against four out the five of the non-Lib Dem councillors following the appointment of the new mayor and the deputy mayor.

The complaint alleged that they had each broken the code of conduct on three separate points.

However, all the complaints were rejected by Claire Porter Herefordshire Councils’ monitoring officer, effectively the chief legal figure in the county, after concluding that no further investigation was required.

Following the council meeting, Cllr Milly Boylan congratulated Cllr Sarah Freer in gaining the position of deputy mayor, saying: “Cllr Freer she will make a good deputy mayor.”

Councillors Boylan, Fowler along with Daniel Lister and Julian Utting then expressed their points of view relating to political voting and voting intent before meetings on social media.

An independent observer delving into the published complaints by Herefordshire Council said that the paperwork revealed that a member of the public, not connected with the council, had also launched 11 individual complaints against each of the Liberal Democrat town councillors and claimed that the group had decide how they were to vote in the meeting.”

Herefordshire Council’s monitoring officer has ruled that none of the 15 were guilty of a conduct breach over the episode.

The observer concluded: “‘I am surprised that the political division evident in these complaints is so significant at this level. Perhaps of more concern is that these complaints appear to be from the majority against the minority.”