A NEW chairman has been elected at Yarm Town Council after a highly argumentative annual meeting.

Councillor Lyn Casey was elected to lead the authority as Councillor Jason Hadlow stood down after a year as the effective leader of the parish council.

Cllr Casey was only elected after former chairman and veteran councillor, Peter Monck, argued that two of the councillors shouldn't have been allowed to take part in the chairman selection vote as they had previously resigned.

One of the councillors, Lorraine Meakin, explained she had only resigned as a member of the Yarm Residents Association (YRA) political group.

The other councillor, Sandra McLeavy, who has also resigned as a member of YRA, did write a letter of resignation to Cllr Hadlow. However, her resignation note was considered invalid because it was an email and not signed. Cllr McLeavy said she had never really intended to resign anyway.

Cllr Monck, who is part of a rival political group to councillors Hadlow, McLeavy and Meakin, said if the two councillors were allowed to vote it would be a "potential fraud".

The three-time former chairman, who took over when Cllr Hadlow stood down after a previous stint as leader in 2013, told the meeting he had taken advice from the chief constable of Cleveland Police.

He said: "Resignations are effective when received...There are two people in the room who will vote illegally...It's been reported to the chief constable and it's going to be investigated."

Clerk to the council, Keith Murray-Hetherington, who is due to leave the council, explained that he had also taken advice, from Stockton Borough Council, and it was his understanding that emailed resignation letters were not sufficient a formal resignation.

Addressing Cllr Monck while still in the position of chairman, Jason Hadlow said being a councillor was not easy and sometimes unpaid councillors could suffer personal abuse. However, he said the cost of a new election should be avoided and he was pleased Cllr McLeavy had changed her mind.

He said: "Cllr McLeavy decided she did not wish to resign. My position was difficult. This has been made political by councillors who, yet again, put their own interests ahead of that of the interests of the electorate."

After the meeting Cllr McLeavy explained some YRA councillors had resigned from that organisation because "we were sick to death of the 'too political' jibe." She added her resignation from the council had not been serious.