A senior Tory councillor has been accused of breaking strict codes of conduct after pornography and 'offensive' jokes were found in files on his laptop computer.

The material was discovered by a Bradford Council employee who was carrying out work on the computer issued to Councillor David Heseltine.

Coun Heseltine, chairman of Shipley Area Panel, will now appear before the Council's standards committee hearings panel on Friday in the first case of its type to be heard by the authority.

Allegations against him of using a personal computer to receive inappropriate material were originally referred to the Standards Board for England by Council leader Margaret Eaton after she received the complaint.

She informed the Standards Board that she believed three jokes could possibly be seen as racially offensive and eight e-mails might be seen to be pornographic.

The Standards Board's national ethical standards officer Steven Kingston has investigated whether Coun Heseltine, 43, a printing company director, has brought his office into disrepute and his report will be taken into consideration by the panel.

The Standards Board was also asked to investigate whether the Bingley ward councillor failed to comply with Council requirements when using the authority's resources.

The material was found in a folder labelled 'jokes' in the laptop computer by the employee who reported it to his manager. The pictures included an advent calendar of naked women in revealing poses; five semi-naked women opening Christmas presents, and pictures of Euro bank notes with superimposed pictures of naked couples in suggestive poses.

In his report, Mr Kingston has described the pictures as explicit soft pornography and has concluded it was inappropriate to store them in Council e-mails.

The Standards Board has now referred the case back to be dealt with by the Council.

Today, Coun Heseltine said unsolicited items had been sent to his computer and he admitted that he should have deleted them.

"Items were sent without any request by me and I did not find the time to clear them," he said.

"I am a very busy ward councillor. It is regrettable I was not more vigilant and got rid of things on my laptop. If I have caused any embarrassment to the authority it is deeply regrettable."

Friday's hearing at City Hall will take place before a panel consisting of independent chairman Pam Essler and Councillors Stanley King (Con, Heaton) and Lynne Joyce (Lab, Keighley Central).

If Coun Heseltine is found to have breached the code of conduct he could be suspended or partly suspended for up to three months or his use of Council resources could be restricted for up to three months.

He could also be ordered to apologise and undergo training.

Only four cases involving members of Bradford Council have been taken to the Standards Board for England in the past two years.

A Standards Board spokesman said it could not comment until the case was concluded.

The Council's Tory group chief whip, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, said: "It will be up to the hearing to make a decision."