The majority of complaints made to the Press Complaints Commission, which raise a possible breach of the Code of Practice, are resolved directly between the Commission's staff, editors and complainants.

These are either settled to the express satisfaction of the complainant following some remedial action by the editor or are not pursued by complainants following an explanation or other response from the publication.

Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which fall into the first category.

Birmingham Post
Paul Bristow, of Birmingham, complained that an article which reported his ex-wife's allegations of domestic violence against him contained inaccuracies. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following clarification: On the 24th November 2005 we published an article about Paul Bristow based on statements made by his former wife, Wendy. Mr Bristow pleaded guilty to assaults on his ex-wife taking place in 2004 but was acquitted of rape alleged to have taken place in 2001. He further denies and was not charged with assaulting her on any prior occasion.

Leigh Reporter
A student complained that an article had set out that he had suffered from depression while revising for his exams. The student contended that he had not spoken to the reporter, and was unsure how the newspaper had obtained this private information. (Clause 3)
Resolution: The newspaper did not accept that the reporter had not spoken to the student. However, the complaint was resolved when the newspaper sent a personal letter of apology to the complainant for the distress caused by the article.

Skegness Standard
Councillor Andy Fletcher, of Skegness, complained that the newspaper had inaccurately reported that he was standing down as leader of the council. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following apology: Further to our article of 31st May, headlined "Labour leader out after battle for power at council", we have been asked to point out that Councillor Andy Fletcher had already announced in April 2006 that he was to stand down as leader of the council and gave his full support to the new leader who was elected in May. He has made clear that he was not, therefore, "ousted" following a "power struggle", as our article claimed. We are happy to clarify the position and apologise for any misunderstanding caused by our article.