Ottery Dogs in council allegation row

OUTRAGED town officials leapt to the defence of Ottery s mayor and his deputy on Monday after a complaint was lodged over their involvement in the town s long-running dog-ban debate.

'OUTRAGED' town officials leapt to the defence of Ottery's mayor and his deputy on Monday after a complaint was lodged over their involvement in the town's long-running dog-ban debate.

The Herald understands campaign group Ottery Dogs has written to East Devon District Council (EDDC) and town councillors questioning the input of Glyn Dobson and Ian Holmes.

The controversial issue has seen EDDC move to ban dogs from the majority of Winters Lane Playing Field and restrict them to leads at the Land of Canaan.

However, both Mr Dobson and Mr Holmes said they refuted any allegations and are confident they will be totally vindicated when the matter is discussed officially.

Mr Dobson said the complaint has "no substance" and insisted he and Mr Holmes have acted well within the councillors' code of conduct.

At a meeting on Monday, councillor John Harding said he had received a letter from Ottery Dogs, adding: "I could not believe what I read".

Cllr Paul Lewis labelled the complaint an "outrage" and said: "I can't see any substantive evidence in what has been claimed about these two people for one minute and look forward to an open debate over this."

Cllr Peter Williams said the situation was "regrettable", he said: "It's a shame we find ourselves in this situation with an organisation which proposes to represent the dog owners of Ottery. I would question how many people are actually members."

Councillors did not disclose the nature of the complaint in the letter but Cllr Paul Carter said: "I'm sure members of the council fully support the mayor and deputy mayor."

An Ottery Dogs spokesperson said the group could not comment on the matter as members wanted to respect the complaints process.