TWO village councillors who objected to the cancellation of a meeting because the chairman’s wife was dying and who later questioned the council buying a wreath for her funeral have been suspended from duty.

Ian Fawcett and Colin Clark, Liberal Democrat members of West Rainton and Leamside Parish Council, near Durham City, were found to have breached the national councillor’s code of conduct.

Durham County Council’s standards committee heard the case and said they should be suspended for four months and undergo equality, diversity and code of conduct training.

The council’s Labour chairman, Jeff Morland, 55, who resigned his job as an Amicus union official to care for his wife, Sandra, 56, who died of cancer in July, said: “I found the behaviour incomprehensible – such a small issue as re-arranging a meeting. It was reported to the Standards Board by three members of the public . They were so outraged by the behaviour.”

A report said the panel felt “at a time when the chairman should have received support and compassion from his colleagues, he was instead faced with a barrage of inappropriate questions which were raised in an unacceptable manner”.

The pair were also found to have waged what the panel called a “concerted campaign of bullying and harassment’’ against parish council clerk of 28 years, Elizabeth Briggs, who resigned as a result.

The report said: “The panel were unanimous in their belief that the matters before them were some of the most serious that the standards committee had had to consider.”

For that breach of the code, Coun Fawcett was suspended for six months and Coun Clark for five months. The suspensions will be consecutive to those in the Jeff Morland case.

Both denied any wrongdoing and said they would appeal.

Coun Clark said he had been suspended from sitting as a magistrate because of the wrangle.

He said: “We have absolutely done nothing wrong.

We have broken no rules. This is a bullying campaign against us that has been going on for two years.”

Coun Fawcett, a former Labour member of Durham City Council, said: “We are strongly contesting what’s happening as a breach of the Human Rights Act.”