A complaint by a BCP councillor that an Echo story on his ideas for redeveloping Christchurch breached his privacy and was inaccurate has been rejected by the press watchdog.

Conservative Cllr Nigel Brooks also claimed that the story, along with another article which mentioned him in passing, amounted to harassment.

This was also dismissed by IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. It said there had been no breach of the Editors Code of Conduct in any respect.

On June 21, the Echo published details of a memo Cllr Brooks had written to BCP Tory leader Cllr Drew Mellor, deputy leader Cllr Philip Broadhead, MP, Sir Christopher Chope and Cllr Peter Hall. The email was leaked.

In it, Cllr Brooks outlined his development 'ideas and opportunities' for Christchurch including the redevelopment of Saxon Square car park, creating a Canford Bottom style roundabout at Stony Lane and selling off the Waitrose car park.

But local residents and Christchurch Town Council knew nothing of the memo which had been written several months earlier when Cllr Brooks was appointed 'lead member' for high streets by Cllr Mellor, a paid role.

Angry town councillors called a special public meeting when the memo became public.

Cllr Mellor wrote to the residents claiming the story was "made up, spurious and politically motivated."

Read the IPSO report here

In his complaint to IPSO, Cllr Brooks, who represents a seat in Highcliffe said publishing his email intruded into his privacy.

The Echo responded it was a matter of public interest.

The councillor said the article was inaccurate because it inferred he was a member of the Conservative administration when he was independent.

He was indeed elected to BCP as an independent in 2019 but defected to the Tory administration last September, two months after submitting his complaint.

The IPSO committee dismissed all of Cllr Brooks' claims and complaints.

In their decision report members said they did not consider the email amounted to private correspondence.

They concluded Cllr Brooks "did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy over this correspondence and reporting its contents did not intrude his privacy."

The committee added: "The Editors’ Code allows newspapers and magazines to be partisan, with the selection and presentation of material for publication a matter for editors – provided that the Code has not otherwise been breached.

"In this instance, both articles under complaint were clearly news reports and distinguished as such.

"The actual or perceived political affiliations of the journalist did not render the articles inaccurate or misleading."

Editor in Chief of the Echo Diarmuid McDonagh said: "This story was great example of scrutinising local councillors and holding them to account. This is part of our job and will continue to be so.

"It was clear from the outset this complaint has no merit whatsoever. I would like to thank IPSO for upholding the principles of strong local journalism in what was a totally spurious complaint."