THE trial of a councillor accused of indecently assaulting two girls in separate incidents has been re-arranged after he fell ill on the day of the hearing.

Harry Devine, 54, an independent member of Easington District Council for the village of Wingate, County Durham, was to have gone on trial at Durham Crown Court this week.

He is facing a re-trial for one allegation of indecent assault on an 11-year-old girl said to have been committed in east Durham between June and September 2002.

A jury failed to reach a verdict at the original trial, at the court in March.

He is also facing a new allegation relating to an incident involving a 12-year-old girl at a park in Bridlington, east Yorkshire, in April.

But, shortly before the trial was scheduled to start, Mr Devine complained of suffering chest pains, during a conference with his barrister, Mark Styles, in the cells at the court, on Monday.

He was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City, where he was checked and detained overnight.

The court heard yesterday that Mr Devine was on medication and was being monitored, but was not expected to be released from hospital until tomorrow.

The Judicial Recorder of Durham, Judge Richard Lowden, agreed to postpone the hearing to a new scheduled start date of January 17.

He ordered that Mr Devine should return to prison on his release from hospital, and remain in custody until the trial.

Mr Devine, of Salters Lane, Wingate, has been in custody since July, when he was arrested on answering bail for the alleged incident in Bridlington