ST COLUMB MAJOR'S mayor has been forced to make a public apology to one of his fellow councillors following a complaint to a local government watchdog.

Cornwall Council's standards determination committee ruled that David Swindells had failed to comply with the authority's code of conduct, in that on September 15 last year he approached Councillor Allison Abaza in a manner which could be viewed as intimidating.

The panel said: "He therefore failed to show Councillor Abaza respect and is in breach of Paragraph 3(1) of the Code of Conduct.

"The panel orders that Councillor Swindells submit a written apology, to be minuted by the town clerk and read out by Councillor Swindells at the next available full council meeting of St Columb Major Town Council."

Mr Swindells complied with the ruling and read out his apology in the public session of last Monday's meeting.

"The Standards Board has found that I failed to show respected to Councillor Allison Abaza prior to a meeting on September 15, 2011, when she was intimidated by comments made by myself," he said.

"I wish to formally apologise. I want to reassure you that it was never my intention to cause upset."

In response, Mrs Abaza said: "It's unfortunate that the situation has occurred and cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds to investigate.

"Hopefully now St Columb Major Town Council can move forward instead of backwards and everyone can work together without having to resort to involving the standards board every time there's a difference of opinion."

Two other St Columb town councillors, Derek Middleditch and deputy mayor Paul Wills, have also been reported to the standards board, but the reasons why they have been reported and by whom have not been released.

The complaint against them was discussed at a meeting of the standards assessment subcommittee on Thursday, but the case has been deferred to gather more information.

The report states: "It is resolved that the complaint be deferred to a future meeting of the standards assessment subcommittee on the proviso that additional supporting information, which may already be in the public domain, is provided as part of the complaint."