COUNCIL boss Rod Hills yesterday vowed to clear his name of the "scurrilous" allegations that led to his arrest earlier this week.

The leader of Labour-controlled City of York Council said his conscience was clear and that he was cooperating with the police investigation.

Councillor Hills was arrested at his home in Huntington Road, York, early on Tuesday and spent a day being interviewed by detectives before being released on police bail.

Police have refused to say what the arrest was in connection with, but Coun Hills described the allegations as malicious.

He made his first public appearance yesterday since the arrest, when he gave a press conference at the offices of his solicitors.

Flanked by lawyers John Yeomans and Jackie Knights, he made a public statement but refused to answer questions.

He said he had not been charged with any criminal offence, and added: "I will continue to provide my full cooperation and expect to speak to the police again next Thursday.

"I have already notified the chief executive of City of York Council that I am temporarily standing down as leader of the council. The reason for my decision is to maintain public confidence in the city council until I have been cleared of these malicious allegations.

"I am unable to say how long this will be."

Coun Hills was set free from Fulford Road police station on Tuesday night, on police bail until June 6.

The police investigation dates back to March and was sparked by the reported theft of private photographs from Coun Hills' home - an incident he reported as a burglary - and subsequent attempts to circulate them in the city.

On April 11, police officers with sniffer dogs searched Coun Hills' house and removed a number of undisclosed items, including his CBE medal, which has since been returned.

Fay Simpson, 31, who said she was Coun Hills' fiancee, said police with sniffer dogs searched the house again after the arrest.

The mother-of-five, originally from Barnsley, said she was an alcoholic former prostitute, who had worked in Leeds, and a reformed heroin addict.