NEW guidelines on councillors accepting gifts and hospitality have been drawn up.
Darlington Borough Council has produced a draft report, which will be considered by its standards committee on Monday.
The report warns council members that they should treat any gift, favour or hospitality made to them with extreme caution.
The guidelines do not apply to gifts received from family and friends that are not related to council matters.
Services and hospitality provided by the council are also not an issue.
The report states that councillors must not accept gifts for any work they do as an elected member.
It says gifts and hospitality must not be accepted if they could be "open to misinterpretation".
A councillor must provide written notification to the town hall's monitoring officer within 28 days of receiving a gift or hospitality worth more than £25.
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