A FORMER Ferndown Town Council mayor has made an official complaint against three councillors on the grounds that they have bullied her and failed to treat her with respect.

It’s understood that in a letter to East Dorset District Council’s monitoring officer Keith Mallett, Cllr Lesley Dedman says she had waited for the town council clerk Ian Jones to remind members of the code of conduct.

The three councillors involved in the allegations have hit back and say they are surprised by Cllr Dedman’s bullying claims.

Cllr Dedman said there had been “no improvement in the situation” following Mr Jones’ ‘personal statement’ at a council meeting earlier this month , warning councillors to respect one another and not to bully other members.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Jones told the Daily Echo he would not identify either the accused councillors or their alleged victim.

Mr Mallett was not available for comment, but Cllr Dedman’s correspondence to him is believed to say that she feels she must make a stand to protect other councillors from suffering the same fate.

It is understood that she cites the conduct of the current mayor, Cllr Queenie Comfort, at council meetings on November 9 and January 18 this year and complains of Cllr Malcolm Birr’s conduct at meetings on December 7 and January 8.

Her complaint against Cllr Maurice Francis relates to his conduct on January 8.

Cllr Dedman said: “Ferndown Town Council was pulled back from the brink two years ago. It took some doing, but we managed and, as a team, we’ve been working together and getting things done for the residents.

“And it’s because I can’t bear the thought of all we’ve achieved being damaged by a return to this sort of behaviour that I feel obliged to take a stand.”

In 2007 the then Mayor Liz Stevens asked her councillors to stop “bullying” her and the situation became so severe she was signed off work with stress.

An inquiry into those allegations is ongoing.