A FORMER mayor who claims he was assaulted by a council leader has said he is not satisfied with his letter of apology.

Christchurch Cllr Ray Nottage was ordered to send the letter to Cllr Fred Neale by Dorset Police as part of a 'community resolution' of the alleged offence, dealt with outside the courts.

Cllr Nottage had disputed Cllr Neale's claim that he pushed him against a wall by his shoulder and told him to "f**k off" during the incident at the Civic Offices in December, moments after the leader had won a vote of no confidence.

He said "nothing physical" had occurred, but admitted swearing "after a long evening".

However Cllr Neale, the independent ward councillor for Jumpers, said he did not feel the matter had been resolved.

"The letter is just a line saying 'I apologise for using expletives in the members' room', and it had an electronic signature," he said.

"I agreed to the community resolution with conditions.

"It had to be a sincere letter. It had to be written by him. It had to acknowledge the stress and anxiety I went through during that period.

"It hasn't been dealt with as I expected it to be. I'm not happy with it."

Cllr Neale, who served as mayor in 2015/16, said he had suffered damage to his shoulder during the incident, since revealed via "scans", although Dorset Police said no injuries had been reported at the time.

A spokesman for the force said: "A 75-year-old man from Christchurch was voluntarily interviewed by police.

"The matter has now concluded and was dealt with by way of a community resolution in agreement with the victim, by way of a letter of apology."

David McIntosh, chief executive of Christchurch and East Dorset Councils, said the borough was conducting its own investigation into the incident.

"The Dorset Police investigation into the assault at the Civic Offices in December where no injuries were reported has now been brought to a conclusion," he said.

"The council has been made aware that a letter of apology has been sent from Cllr Nottage to Cllr Neale.

"We will now look at any internal action that we may need to take in regards to this matter."