THE Mayor of Richmond has revealed he has become the second councillor to be reported to the Standards Board for England by the chief executive of the district authority.

Catterick councillor Tony Pelton has already confirmed his name has been referred to the local government watchdog by Richmondshire District Council's most senior officer, Harry Tabiner.

Mr Tabiner has alleged he has breached the councillors' code of conduct by leaking details of the authority's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) while it was still confidential.

Coun Pelton is also accused of publishing defamatory material in a newsletter distributed around his ward.

Now Mayor of Richmond Councillor Stuart Parsons has said he, too, has been reported by Mr Tabiner for discussing the content of the CPA with The Northern Echo.

Coun Parsons has since apologised and has always maintained he did so unaware that the contents of the document were confidential. No article appeared in the newspaper.

But he could still face a formal censure, suspension or even disqualification from public office.

Mr Tabiner said that as both matters were now with the Standards Board, he could not comment further as to do so could be prejudicial to any proceedings.

Coun Parsons said: "I'm not too worried about the outcome as I have faith in the system and I believe it will find that I was not entirely at fault."