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Complaint threat forWorthing Herald

A borough council is considering taking the Worthing Herald to the Press Complaints Commission for printing what it considers to be confidential information about staff.

The Herald told its readers about the background to senior staff changes at the authority.

But Worthing Borough Council has taken exception to an article printed on July 13, and others previously published, and has asked the Herald for its source and the editor for his comments.

HoldTheFrontPage contacted the council, which confirmed it was in correspondence with the Press Complaints Commission to discuss how to take the matter forward.

The council has no press office but acting head of legal services Andy Cooper said: “The local authority can treat various matters as exempt information at meetings, particularly with regard to staff.

“So someone is leaking this information which was supposed to be treated as confidential.”

Herald editor Mick Plumb said staff were “staggered” at developments.

He said in his paper’s editorial column: “The Herald prides itself on being fair and accurate. We take any criticisms – however seemingly trivial – extremely seriously.

“If we make a mistake we’ll put our hands up to it.

“We believe our readers deserve to be told what’s going on at their town hall.

“We believe we would be failing in our role as a community newspaper if we restricted our coverage merely to what’s said within the confines of committee meetings.

“We know for a fact that council staff have been relying on the Herald to keep them fully informed of what’s going on within the borough council – an appalling state of affairs.”


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