A MAN who held a three-year vigil outside the town hall has been cleared of assaulting a security guard after claims he sneezed on him.

Michael Parnell became a familiar face outside the town hall over three years, at one point standing on the steps 24 hours a day.

The father-of-two held signs bearing simple messages such as ‘Hello’ in a bid to raise awareness of a long-standing grievance with social services.

Gradually relations between Mr Parnell and security staff deteriorated and last summer he was convicted of deliberately blowing mucus onto one of them.

Mr Parnell, 54, of Osborne Street, Bredbury, has now been cleared on appeal but was warned to stay away from the council.

Judge Bernard Lever expressed sympathy with Mr Parnell’s original cause, but said: "Unfortunately all these years of standing outside protesting has not borne fruit and this is, over time, going to lead to a feeling of frustration on the appellant’s part. We are sure, whether his intention or not, this appellant was very frustrated in the first instance with the council and in the second instance with the security guards employed by the council.

"He was spoiling for a conflict."

However, Judge Lever said there was not enough evidence to uphold the conviction.

The court heard Mr Parnell had been protesting outside the main council offices in October 2008 when he tried to force open the automatic doors.

Security guard Francis Craughwell claimed that when he confronted Mr Parnell, he had blown mucus at him, saying: ‘Here, share my cold.’

His colleague Steve Duggen, a senior council security guard, said he had witnessed the assault.

But the court heard that when police were called, there was no evidence of any mucus on Mr Craughwell’s jacket, and the incident had not been captured on CCTV.

Mr Parnell was cleared of common assault but banned from going within one mile of council offices for 18 months.