Rebel councillor hit by work ban after 'attack'

Published on Tuesday 25 January 2005 12:29

AN independent councillor has been banned from entering the council buildings where he works, after being charged with breach of the peace.

Councillor Charles Ingle was formally charged last week, after allegedly launching a verbal attack on a housing official.

In an internal memo sent to all staff, East Lothian Council chief executive John Lindsay said he had obtained an interim interdict to stop Cllr Ingle entering county buildings in order to protect his staff.

The order, granted at Haddington Sheriff Court, means the councillor has to make an appointment before entering any of the council buildings in Haddington, including the headquarters at John Muir House.

He is to be escorted to and from all meetings and barred from entry unless he can show proof of an appointment. Mr Ingle, 44, who is taking legal advice on the interdict, said he would comply with the order. He said: "It has made it extremely difficult to do my job, and personally I think it is degrading, a fact I have made clear to the chief executive.

"It will not stop me doing my job, however, although it makes it a lot harder to go about the work. But I have always worked to represent the people who elected me and I will continue to do that.

"The people I have spoken to have been very supportive and on the whole they have expressed concern, as well as shock and disgust, at the way I have been treated. I have even been offered encouragement from people I have never spoken to before."

The ban follows the alleged incident on January 14 which led to the councillor being charged with a breach of the peace. Police were called to the housing services office of East Lothian Council in Haddington after a complaint was made about Cllr Ingle.

It is understood he shouted at Bruce Walker, the local authority’s housing chief, while visiting his office in Court Street.

It is claimed he also refused to leave Mr Walker’s room.