A COUNCIL spent £1,500 investigating its own leader after what he describes as a “ridiculous” complaint by a BNP councillor.

Burnley Council’s standards committee earlier this month cleared Coun Gordon Birtwistle of any wrongdoing after an alleged slur on Coun Len Starr of the BNP.

The investigation, which included conducting lengthy interviews with the two councillors, followed comments made by council leader Coun Birtwistle last year.

And now town hall bosses have admitted the probe cost taxpayers £1,500 after a Freedom of Information request from the Lancashire Telegraph.

Last year, after it emerged more than 250 people in East Lancashire were BNP members, Coun Birtwistle suggested the party’s Burnley councillors had no influence on the council and said they didn’t show up at decision-making meetings.

It sparked a complaint from Coun Starr, but the leader said he meant BNP councillors were not on the council’s Liberal Democrat-run executive, which makes key decisions.

However, after a first investigation cleared Coun Birtwistle, Coun Starr appealed and prompted a second probe which again found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Afterwards, Coun Birtwistle said: “The complaint against me was ridiculous.

"The initial review, when it was first put to them, said I had not breached the councillors’ code of conduct.”

The comments investigated by the council were originally reported in the Lancashire Telegraph in November.

The decision notice said: “The standards sub-committee consideration panel, on consideration of the report prepared on behalf of the monitoring officer, accepted the finding that there had been no failure on the part of Coun Birtwistle to comply with the code.”

Coun Starr was unavailable for comment.