A MIDDLETON councillor and mayor-elect has refuted claims he tried to get a fellow councillor sacked from her job.

West ward representative Robin Parker, who is set to take over as the Mayor of Rochdale after the local elections in May, denied claims that he tried to get Cllr Jean Ashworth ousted from her job as a nurse at Rochdale Infirmary for her outspoken comments on the hospital.

The Standards Board for England has now been asked to investigate the complaint after Rochdale MP Paul Rowen and council leader Alan Taylor reported him to the board. It is also demanding the Labour group remove the whip over him until any investigation reveals is findings.

In an email seen by the Middleton Guardian, Cllr Parker emailed health bosses at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to ask why they tolerated criticism about its reorganisation plans from Cllr Ashworth on a local internet forum, given that trade union activist Karen Reissman was dismissed from the Mental Health Trust last year for criticising mental health provision in Manchester.

The trust investigated Cllr Parker’s allegations, but did not take disciplinary action against Cllr Ashworth.

Cllr Parker said he never intended for Cllr Ashworth to face disciplinary action, and was complaining as a patient about her overstretching her position as a councillor when making the comments.

He said: "I put a complaint in as a patient because I was fed up of Cllr Ashworth putting stuff in her diary complaining about the hospital, and I expected it, as a normal patient, to have it dealt with in complete confidence to decide if there was a case to answer to.

"I did not ask them to dismiss Jean, just to look at her diary entries. But this was done as a patient.

"I have asked the chief executive of the trust to investigate how this communication got out into the public domain, as it was a private, patient matter."

Cllr Ashworth, a Lib Dem councillor for the Smallbridge and Firgrove ward, said she was ‘devastated’ and ‘sickened’ by the matter.

She said: "I have worked hard alongside the Friends of the Hospital and other organisations.

"I am a loyal member of the trust and I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise that.

"I haven’t been in this position before and I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody.

"I think it is very sad because at the end of the day this is my livelihood."

A Standards’ Board spokeswoman said it could take five to 10 days following the receipt of the letter to decide if an investigation will be launched.

If it is decided that a breach was made, a councillor could be suspended for three months or for a maximum of five years.

Mr Rowen said: "Having read the exchange of emails, I am absolutely disgusted at his behaviour.

"His actions are a disgrace to local politics and I asking the Labour Group to remove his whip until the outcome of the investigation."

Labour group leader Councillor Allen Brett said until the Standards Board said whether there would be an investigation or not, Cllr Parker would not have the Labour whip removed.