A COUNCILLOR accused of trying to alter minutes of a school governors' meeting was last night celebrating after he was cleared of wrongdoing.

Tom Forster, a county councillor for Lanchester, in County Durham, was barred as a governor of Burnhope Primary School because he did not attend meetings.

He was alleged to have approached the clerk and chairman of the governors and asked them to alter minutes of meetings he had not attended to make it look as though he had been present.

The ethical standards officer from the Standards Board for England investigated the complaint, but exonerated Coun Forster of malpractice.

In its findings, the board ruled: "With regards to the alleged conversation with the clerk, the ethical standards officer considered that, with no other witnesses to their conversation and Coun Forster's denial, there was not enough evidence to support a finding that Coun Forster had asked the clerk to alter the minutes.

"In relation to the alleged discussion between Coun Forster and the chairman, the ethical standards officer accepted the evidence of both parties that Coun Forster had not behaved inappropriately, or even mentioned the minutes of the meetings during their short conversation.

"The ethical standards officer did not, therefore, consider that Coun Forster had failed to comply with the code of conduct, and found that no further action was necessary."

Coun Forster said: "I am delighted with the finding. I have always had great confidence in what was found.

"I never thought I had done anything wrong all the way through. Hopefully, everybody concerned will put this behind them and we can look to the future."

The allegation brought against Coun Forster concerned Paragraph 4 of the code of conduct, which stipulates that "a member must not in his official capacity, or any other circumstance, conduct himself in a manner which reasonably could be regarded as bringing his office or authority into disrepute".

In March, the council's Labour leader, Albert Nugent, said he would take no further action after an investigation by the council's monitoring officer into the allegations had proved inconclusive.

Coun Nugent said last night: "I am happy Coun Forster has been exonerated."