Castaway councillor Stephen Gregory faces a grilling by police over allegations he threatened a colleague - from 5,000 miles away on a Caribbean island.

Mr Gregory flew into England from the Dominican Republic last week and resigned his seat on Wear Valley District Council after the furore surrounding his position.

He had sparked widespread outrage by continuing to claim his £90 weekly allowance from the council while living in the Caribbean for the past year.

Mr Gregory, who represented the Bishop Auckland Town ward as an independent, has claimed nearly £4,500 in expenses since he moved to the Caribbean last January.

Had he attended Friday's meeting after flying back into Britain the previous day instead of resigning, Mr Gregory, a former butcher who ran a business in Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, would have been entitled to claim for a further six months.

Now Chris Foote Wood, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group on Wear Valley District Council, has made what he described as a formal complaint to police against Mr Gregory "for threatening language and implied threats against me in interviews given by him".

The complaint relates to comments Mr Gregory is alleged to have made in interviews from the Dominican Republic.

But Mr Gregory accused the councillor of "making a mountain out of a molehill".

Coun Foote Wood has been an outspoken critic of Mr Gregory and of a local government system which entitles members to continue to claim allowances while attending the minimum number of meetings.

He succeeded in having a motion passed by the council calling on the Government to look again at the rules for claiming allowances, to benefit "hard-working councillors, not those who hardly turn up at meetings".

Last night, Coun Foote Wood, of Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, said: "Since putting forward that motion I have been subject to abusive and threatening attacks by certain members of this council.

"Behaviour of this kind is totally unacceptable in any civilised organisation and least of all by councillors who are supposedly dedicated to the welfare of the people we represent.

"Abusive personal attacks and threats, whether real or implied, will never prevent me from speaking out on what I believe is right," he said.

"I have made a formal complaint to the Standards Board for England against former councillor Stephen Gregory, for threatening language and implied threats against me in interviews given by him.

"Further, I have made a formal complaint to the police on the same grounds.

"As these matters are now under investigation by the authorities, I do not propose to make any further comment on these specific issues, while continuing to campaign for a fairer system of councillors' allowances that better reflect the time commitment given by members to their duties as public representatives."

When Mr Gregory resigned on Friday Coun Foote Wood described his decision as "better late than never" and said: "Ninety pounds a week may not be much for a hard-working councillor, but it is an awful lot to be paid for doing nothing."

But last night Mr Gregory said: "Chris Foote Wood is making a mountain out of a molehill. I haven't seen the man, I haven't telephoned the man, how could I threaten him?

"I have only been back in this country for three days and I don't need this.

"I have done nothing wrong. I resigned from the council on Friday; why can't he just let the matter drop? I have nothing to hide."

Durham Police could not say if they had received Coun Foote Wood's complaint.