The mayor of Padiham has been ordered to undergo ethnicity training after admitting making a racist comment to a call centre worker.
Coun Bob Clark referred to a member of staff at Calico Housing as a 'bloody P...' during a conversation about a resident of the town who had been locked out of his home after losing his keys.
A standards committee hearing at Burnley Town Hall yesterday found that Coun Clark had breached the councillors Code of Conduct for failing to treat others with respect and had brought Padiham Town Council into disrepute.
Coun Clark could have faced a six-month suspension but the committee decided his previous good character and work for the town did not merit that punishment.
If he had been suspended it could have opened the door for deputy mayor BNP councillor John Cave taking over the role.
The committee, made up of independent chair Andrew Neville, parish representative Gill Smith and borough councillor Julie Cooper, ordered Coun Clark to write a letter of apology, which he had already done, and to undertake ethnicity and diversity training.
The complaint against Coun Clark followed a telephone conversation with Calico worker Hazif Rehman on March 10 this year.
This item continues at Burnley Citizen
