Below are summaries of the latest complaints involving the regional press which have been resolved between the parties involved, with help from the Press Complaints Commission.

Mid Devon Advertiser
Arthur De Val, of Newton Abbot, complained that an article about his fight to develop properties had inaccurately claimed that police had offered to maintain a presence during any future council meetings if he was present. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following letter from the complainant: I welcome and thank you as our responsible local newspaper for this opportunity to set the record straight, with regard to a previous article, where it was alleged that if I attended planning meetings there would be a police presence requested. I will now set out the truth of the matter. After the allegation made against me by Councillor Corney Walker in the council chamber, the police – who have confirmed that no offence was committed – advised me to attend the next planning meeting, and have the matter resolved at the reading of the minutes, but I was denied my democratic right to do that. The other mix up in respect of the police was that, at the end of two separate planning meetings, I was jostled on the stairs leaving the council chamber by a group of objectors. My wife and I were confronted, on both occasions, by a group waiting outside the council reception to jeer and heckle. I asked one of the receptionists to request that the police attend on my behalf, as anyone is entitled to do. We are law abiding citizens and use the planning process. I continue to demand the resignation of Councillor Corney Walker and that he have no input into any business I have with our councils. I hope lessons are learned from this whole issue.

Thurrock Gazette
Former police officer Ross Tooke, of Essex, complained that an interview with an individual who claimed she had received numerous sexually explicit text messages from him contained inaccuracies. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following text: "The Echo/Thurrock Gazette published an interview in April with Tina Rudd, who claimed to have been sent inappropriate mobile phone messages and images by Ross Tooke, who was a police officer at the time. Ms Rudd was the owner of the mobile phone. However, we now accept she was not the subject of the messages because her phone was at the time being used by another woman. We apologise for any misunderstanding. Mr Tooke has also asked us to point out that the woman concerned contacted him first, giving him the phone number. He also did not send explicit pictures of himself while he was on duty. We are happy to clarify these points."

Basildon Echo
Former police officer Ross Tooke, of Essex, complained that an interview with an individual who claimed she had received numerous sexually explicit text messages from him contained inaccuracies. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following text: "The Echo/Thurrock Gazette published an interview in April with Tina Rudd, who claimed to have been sent inappropriate mobile phone messages and images by Ross Tooke, who was a police officer at the time. Ms Rudd was the owner of the mobile phone. However, we now accept she was not the subject of the messages because her phone was at the time being used by another woman. We apologise for any misunderstanding. Mr Tooke has also asked us to point out that the woman concerned contacted him first, giving him the phone number. He also did not send explicit pictures of himself while he was on duty. We are happy to clarify these points."

Northern Echo
J Y Peart, of Durham, complained that the caption to accompany a photograph in an article about the proposed development at Mount Oswald golf course was misleading and that the article did not make clear that developers planned to build on over 50% of the site. (Clause 1)
Resolution: The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following correction: "On July 18, The Northern Echo carried an article about the proposed development at Mount Oswald golf course, Durham City, in which the developer is hoping to create a "world class" business park on more than half of the course. The article was accompanied by a picture that was captioned: "Banks Developments planner Justin Hancock chats to visitors about the proposals". We have been asked to point out that the picture actually showed Mr Hancock chatting to three people who assisted in the running of the exhibition. We are sorry for any confusion this might have caused."

Sheffield Star
Jennifer Allen, of Sheffield, complained about an approach from the newspaper's reporter following the announcement of her daughter's death in the newspaper. She said she had told the funeral directors that she did not wish to speak to the press and that the approach was particularly upsetting because the reporter was a similar age to her late daughter and she therefore assumed that she was an acquaintance. (Clause 5)
Resolution: The newspaper sought to explain that, following the publication of the death notice, it contacted the funeral directors and one of the charities mentioned but did not hear anything further from either party. The newspaper therefore sent the reporter on duty at the time to visit the family and, on being told that they did not wish to speak, she apologised and left. The editor said it was unfortunate that the newspaper did not get the family's message through the funeral directors and apologised for disturbing the complainant at such an emotional time. The complainant accepted the newspaper's apology despite believing that the newspaper should have waited for a response from the funeral directors before the reporter made her approach.