BNP councillor Paul Cromie has been referred to the Standards Board for England after dishing out £5 notes to pensioners for Christmas.

The 54-year-old Queensbury councillor was reported to Bradford Council after making the donations - which Coun Cromie insists were made as a goodwill gesture from his councillor's allowance - to more than 200 pensioners who live in sheltered housing in his ward.

Now the council has referred the case to the Standards Board for England. If found to be in breach of the Councillors' Code of Conduct, Coun Cromie could face disqualification from office for five years.

A Bradford Council legal services spokesperson said: "It is the responsibility of every councillor to ensure they conduct themselves in a way that does not bring their office into disrepute.

"The Council's monitoring officer has reported the fact Coun Cromie sent £5 notes to constituents at Christmas to the Standards Board."

The council referred the case to the board, which is responsible for promoting high ethical standards and probing allegations that members' behaviour may have fallen short of the required standards, following a complaint.

Coun Cromie insists that when he asked Bradford Council officers back in September if he needed to tell them about any donations he intended to make to worthy causes, he was told this was not the case.

He said: "I find it quite bizarre I have been referred to the Standards Board. The treatment I have received is despicable.

"In July I made a donation of £500 to Holy Trinity Church in Queensbury and a pledge of £50 a month to the church fund for the entirety of my stay as ward councillor. There was nothing said about that.

"I have been donating to good causes within this village for almost 30 years. I checked with the Council with regards to Holy Trinity Church. I told Salman Mather (head of Democratic Services) what I had done and I told him this would not be the only donation I would be making during my time as a councillor. If they had said it was unadvisable I would not have done it."

Coun Cromie said he continued to receive massages of thanks from pensioners who received the gifts.

A Bradford Council legal services spokesman said: "There is no requirement in the member code to declare donations and there is no register, public or private, of donations.

"There is a breach of the Code where a member conducts himself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing the office or the Council into disrepute."

Once an allegation is received, the Standards Board decides whether to refer it for investigation by its ethical standards officer or by the local authority.

If a councillor is found to be in breach of the code of conduct, the local standards committee can impose a maximum sanction of three months' suspension.

Alternatively, the independent Adjudication Panel for England can impose stronger sanctions, including five years' disqualification from office or a one-year suspension from office.

e-mail: fiona.evans@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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