New details have emerged that confirm that two local councillors found guilty of bullying town council staff following a town council investigation have by cleared by Herefordshire Council.

Code of conduct rules instruct councillors not to "bully, harass or intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person"; and correspondence from the county's monitoring officer, sent to the two councillors, states: "There is no basis to support a finding that you have breached the code of conduct."

But the town council says its own investigation, concerning complaints of bullying against Cllrs Liz Harvey and Andrew Harrison, was correct under employment law; and guidance from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and ACAS was followed.

A joint statement from town clerk, Karen Mitchell and Ledbury's mayor, Cllr Elaine Fieldhouse states: "Under employment law, the town council investigated grievances lodged by two members of staff against Cllrs Harvey and Harrison for bullying, harassment and intimidation. One member of staff has since resigned from the town council. In line with ACAS guidance, a grievance procedure drawn up by NALC was followed, and the staff complaints were upheld."

But Cllr Harvey who, alongside Cllr Harrison was banned from speaking at all town council meetings - except full council meetings - for a year said the grievance procedure followed by the town council was 'unlawful'.

She said: "The only legal means of determining a complaint about a councillor is by way of the complaints process handled by Herefordshire Council. It was unlawful for anyone to handle complaints against councillors in any other way.

"The staff complaints against Cllr Harrison and me have now been independently investigated by experts and we have been cleared of all allegations of misconduct including those of bullying and harassment of staff."

The town council insists that a code of conduct investigation is one thing and employment law is another.

The town council statement says: "We are fully aware that the town council cannot deal with code of conduct complaints against its members. The town council does however have a duty in law to protect its staff and to consider grievance complaints under employment legislation. Code of conduct and employment law are two completely separate and distinct areas in law.

"Prior to the grievance hearings, Cllrs Harvey and Harrison reported themselves under the code of conduct to the monitoring officer at Herefordshire Council who suggested to the town council that it should halt its own process whilst she considered Cllrs Harvey and Harrison’s self-referred complaints. The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) advised Ledbury Town Council that under employment law, it must continue with the grievance procedure without delay.

"In taking this action Ledbury Town Council has complied with relevant laws, regulations and proper practices."

The process has used up taxpayer's money and could take more.

In 2016/17 Ledbury Town Council spent £10,000 on legal advice and has budgeted a further £10,000 for 2017/18.

Meanwhile, Herefordshire Council's decision, that Cllr Harvey was not in breach of the code of conduct, has left Cllr Harvey considering her options.

Cllr Harvey said: "I am considering all options open to me and seeking advice."

But Cllr Harrison said: "I have spent my efforts trying to sort things out through the correct process. I haven't looked into what I might do if that fails."