A NORTH YORKSHIRE councillor has been told to answer to his authority for an article published in a newsletter he distributes around his ward.

Tony Pelton is the editor of The Clarion, a free news leaflet highlighting issues of interest around Catterick Village.

He also gives his own light-hearted brickbats and bouquets under the pseudonym of Patrick Brompton - and it was an item in the Christmas column which left some council colleagues fuming.

Under the headline, Old Arms Out, New Legs In, Coun Pelton criticised the Richmondshire administration's decision to do away with the logo on its letterheads.

However, he praised some of the authority's staff - including Ruth, for her smile, Ann, for her legs and Mairi, for her "Marilyn Monroe approach".

The article angered fellow councillor Lynn Miller, who said Coun Pelton referred to council employees "in a patronising and sexist manner".

He will now have to answer to the authority's standards committee, which will be asked to decide, at a meeting next Wednesday, whether he has breached the National Code of Local Government Conduct.

An unrepentant Coun Pelton said yesterday he would not be attending for personal reasons.