A LABOUR councillor has been cleared of allegations of racism made by the head of the town's Racial Equality Council.

Mr Khalid Hussain claimed that Whitefield councillor Pam Walker had behaved "as if she were in the British Raj" when she chaired a meeting of the licensing panel.

He made a formal complaint to the council following the incident in March, when Mr Hussain was representing an Asian man who was applying for a taxi licence.

But then-council solicitor Stan Monaghan, who investigated the grievance, found there was no case to answer. His verdict was endorsed by the council's standards committee, which met behind closed doors last week.

About the meeting in March, Mr Hussain said: "She wouldn't even allow me to ask any questions and she rebuked me on a number of occasions. In the end, she asked me to leave. I feel her actions amounted to racial discrimination and I still feel that way."

He admitted that Coun Walker had not made any racist remarks. But he said that, under the MacPherson Report, individuals had the right to class incidents in this way if they perceived they were victims of racism.

"I perceived her to be racist towards me," he went on. "Her whole demeanour was negative."

In his written complaint, Mr Hussain had described Coun Walker's "body language and tone of voice" as "unpleasant, autocratic and discourteous".

He added: "I strongly feel that I was subjected to this treatment by her due to my Pakistani ethnic origin, and also because I am director of Bury REC.

"It appears to me that Coun Walker uses the panel as her own private court where she can hand down punishments to vulnerable black and Asian people as if she were in the British Raj."

Councillor Walker has represented Pilkington Park ward in Whitefield for seven years.

She said it was the first time she had been the subject of a formal complaint or investigation, or accused of racism, and found the experience "upsetting".

"There has been a complaint against me which has been thoroughly investigated," she said.

"I was fully exonerated, although I knew I would be, and I am very pleased at the outcome and more than happy with the contents of the report.

"I wish to now carry on with my position as chairman of the licensing panel, serving the borough as I was elected to do.

"From a personal point of view, I may be taking legal advice to see if there is anything I can do regarding the complaints against me."

Mr Hussain, who left his post as full-time director of Bury REC last week for a similar position in Kirklees, said he accepted the verdict.

But he added: "Before this, I'd never accused anyone of racism. I want to stress that my allegation was not frivolous and I felt her actions were discriminatory towards me."

The Bury Times understands that Coun Pam Walker is the subject of a second, unrelated, investigation. Both she and Bury Council refused to confirm or deny that.