A Tywyn councillor who made comments about a local woman in e-mails to town and Gwynedd county councillors has been cleared of misconduct.

The complaint was investigated on the basis that the member, identified as Councillor Y, may have breached the local authorities’ Code of Conduct by failing to show respect and consideration, bullying and harassment and bringing his office into disrepute.

But the Ombudsman did not consider that the comments were so offensive as to breach the code and that the e-mails had not been shared with the public.

“He had sent one e-mail to a member of the press, and whilst the Ombudsman considered it unwise for him to do so, it did not appear that the e-mail was acted upon or shared further,” says the report.

“That being so, the Ombudsman did not consider that the consequences of his actions were sufficiently serious to have brought his office or authority into disrepute.”

The councillor has, however, been “advised of his responsibility to be mindful of how his comments are perceived by others in future”.

An outline of the case is contained in the Ombudsman’s Casebook of Summaries of his investigations into Code of Conduct complaints during the September – December period.