A libel action brought against the editor and publisher of a weekly newspaper has come to a halt after the jury was discharged because it failed to reach a verdict.

Labour minister Shahid Malik, the Minister for International Development, sued a former Tory councillor and the Dewsbury Press, which is in his west Yorkshire constituency.

He claimed that a letter sent to the Dewsbury Press by Jonathan Scott, and a follow-up interview a week later, branded him a racist whose divisive style was to blame for the rise of the BNP in the area. He claimed the content said that he directed a “military” campaign during the May 2006 local elections to get the Asian electorate to vote for their “Muslim brothers”.

The newspaper’s then editor, Danny Lockwood, its publisher Newspost Ltd and Mr Scott all denied libel, pleading justification – that their claims were substantially true.

Media Lawyer reports that the jury was discharged at the end of a 10-day hearing before Mr Justice Eady at the High Court, in London, after more than a day of deliberations.

It is unclear if there will be any further proceedings.