THE former Conservative leader of Maldon District Council has been barred from serving on any of the authority's committees or working groups for 12 months.

Councillor Adrian Fluker will also receive a letter of censure signed by the chairman as part of the sanctions against him, dished out by a meeting of the full council yesterday (Thursday, October 1) evening.

The sanctions come following the decision of the council's Joint Standards Committee on September 3 that Cllr Fluker had broken the Code of Conduct when he was leader. It had been found in an independent investigation that Cllr Fluker had carried out a campaign of bullying against fellow member, Conservative Councillor Richard Siddall, including homophobic remarks.

The ban will in effect mean that because of the timing of future Statutory Annual meetings, which appoint committee members, Cllr Fluker will not be able to sit on committees or take part in working groups for a period of 19 months.

Conservative Councillor Michael Helm had proposed that the ban was for a shortened time - until May 2021 – so that it was not unduly long. However, members voted to reject this.

Councillor Wendy Stamp requested that Cllr Fluker's allowance be removed and donated to an LBGT rights group, but this was not allowed under current rules.

Cllr Stamp said: "That's a shame. Maybe Cllr Fluker will decide to do that himself."