COUNCILLORS heard yesterday how a fellow council member had been cleared of allegations that he broke a code of conduct.

Labour councillor Gordon Plummer, who represents Lascelles ward on Darlington Borough Council, was reported to the National Standards Board after an incident at a ward surgery last year.

He is alleged to have told an elderly woman to shut up after she made a complaint, with a group of other residents, about their sheltered housing complex.

The board cleared him of any wrong-doing after taking into account the fact that Coun Plummer had already pledged to investigate the woman's problem. It was also the first complaint made against him in 24 years of service.

A report said Coun Plummer admitted getting frustrated and being abrupt.

Members of the borough council's standards committee met yesterday to note the board's findings.