COUNCIL bosses have been cleared of any wrongdoing over claims they mishandled complaints about Darlington's new football stadium and its controversial message board.

The Local Government Ombudsman has ruled that there are insufficient grounds to suggest that Darlington Borough Council mishandled issues surrounding the new Neasham Road stadium, due to open in August.

Jan Mazurk, of the Neasham Road Action Group, complained to the Local Government Ombudsman in January that the council had failed to consult widely enough on the stadium, that it had failed to order the club to remove its message board- despite claims it did not have planning permission - and that it took too long to respond to her queries.

She also claimed that planning conditions on the stadium were being breached and were not being enforced by the council.

However, the Ombudsman, who investigates complaints against councils, has decided there is no case to answer

A report to be presented to Darlington Borough Council on Tuesday said: "The Ombudsman did not consider that any of those were matters which merited further investigation.".

The borough solicitor said that "there are no issues which require to be addressed arising from this case".

Club chairman George Reynolds said last night: "The Action Group and complainants should be made to foot the bill for the inconvenience they have caused to the council, at taxpayers' expense, with the amount of complaints they have made."

Mrs Mazurk said: "The Ombudsman has left the file open so I can go back directly with any future breaches, such as any increase in the number of seats, change of use or any other breach of the 22 planning conditions."

Mrs Mazurk had been one of a number of people referred to on a large message board outside the stadium. She said the board was "distressing and illegal".

The message concerning her was removed after police were called.

A council spokeswoman said: "Every complaint is thoroughly investigated and very few are referred to the Ombudsman.

"Where complaints have been referred to the Ombudsman, there has been found to be no grounds for complaint against the council.

"This reflects the thoroughness and quality of the council's complaints procedure."