A FORMER deputy town clerk who was unfairly dismissed amid “moral disapproval” of her personal relationship with a councillor, has been awarded damages of more than £55,000.

Barnard Castle Town Council will hold an extraordinary meeting at 6pm on Wednesday to discuss the employment tribunal's ruling in favour of Jane Woodward, who said her career had been left “totally destroyed” after she was sacked.

Barnard Castle mayor Councillor John Blissett and councillor Sandra Moorhouse were were singled out for criticism in employment tribunal.

A public meeting had been called to debate a vote of no confidence in the councillors, but it was called off after it was confirmed that Durham County Council was going to investigate a code of conduct complaint against them.

The tribunal held last November was told Mrs Woodward had grown close to then councillor Roger Peat, whose wife Rosemary was in a home with Alzheimer’s. She died last October.

Mrs Woodward found herself the subject of gossip and anonymous letters, which were referred to police, and was branded a gold-digger.

In 2019 Mr Peat resigned from the authority and Mrs Woodward was later dismissed from her post.

A report by Judge Seamus Sweeney criticised the town council’s treatment of Mrs Woodward and councillors Blissett and Moorhouse, who did not approve of Mrs Woodward’s relationship with Mr Peat primarily from a moral standpoint.

Cllr Moorhouse regarded Mrs Woodward as something of a “femme fatale” the judge found.

In 2019 Mr Peat resigned from the authority and Mrs Woodward was later dismissed from her post after the council cited “an irretrievable breakdown in relationships between her and her co-workers and councillors”.

Judge Sweeney awarded Mrs Woodward £2,336 for unfair dismissal and £52,727 for disability discrimination, on the grounds the council had failed to make “reasonable adjustment” for her depression and anxiety