A SENIOR council officer at the centre of a probe into alleged professional misconduct has taken early retirement as part of an internal shake-up in his department.

Ron Thompson, operations manager for transport and buildings at Durham County Council's Service Direct, was suspended on full pay in March following anonymous allegations.

The allegations were made by staff in his department at Framwellgate Moor, Durham City, to Service Direct manager Brian Tennant.

Mr Thompson's post has since been scrapped as part of a reorganisation programme aimed at increasing efficiency, and he decided to take early retirement.

His job and the divisions he managed are in the process of being restructured.

A council spokesman said the structure of every department was subject to regular review and reorganisation to ensure optimum efficiency and best value were being achieved.

He said: "Mr Thompson's decision to accept redundancy as a consequence of reorganisation within his department was influenced by matters concerning his health.

"His departure means our internal investigation into the allegations made against him in March has been wound up.

"That matter is now at an end and we have no further comment to make."