A CONTROVERSIAL mayor is leaving his role with a success after breaking a charity fundraising record.

Outgoing mayor of Hartlepool, Stephen Akers-Belcher helped raise £118,000 for the town's charities, a record for any Hartlepool mayor.

The money was brought in over his past two years as mayor plus the year before that when he was Chairman of Hartlepool Council.

His chosen charities included: The Belle Vue Youth Project; Hartlepool Young Carers; Hartlepool Hospice; the Great North Air Ambulance and the Miles For Men cancer charity.

To raise the money, Councillor Akers-Belcher organised an extensive programme of events including a boxing match and a contest to find Hartlepool’s best cake.

Cllr Akers-Belcher said: “I am so very grateful to everyone who gave their time, effort and money to help achieve such a fantastic total."

Cllr Akers-Belcher, who is married to the leader of the council, Christopher Akers-Belcher, was criticised by fellow councillors for continuing in his role after being sacked from his job as a care manager with Newcastle City Council for gross misconduct.

Spokesmen for Newcastle council have said Stephen Akers-Belcher took time off to attend a funeral but in fact represented Hartlepool Borough Council at an event 323 miles away on board HMS Warrior in Portsmouth because the ship had been restored in Hartlepool.

However Cllr Akers-Belcher has consistently argued that he was in fact penalised for whistle blowing about Newcastle's care of vulnerable adults. That claim has, in turn, be denied by Newcastle City Council who say police investigated and took no action.