A regional daily has tracked down a serving local councillor now living almost 300 miles away from its patch.

Former Blackpool Council leader Simon Blackburn has defended his decision to continue serving in his role to Blackpool daily The Gazette, despite moving 280 miles away from the ward he represents to Devon.

Councillor Blackburn led the authority between 2011 and last year, when he stepped down after he was suspended from the Labour Party following a “serious allegation”, which was never publicly revealed.

A year-long investigation by the party was dropped once Cllr Blackburn left Labour when his membership lapsed in April, and he has continued to represent the Brunswick ward as an Independent.

Cllr Blackburn’s defence of his position provided a splash for The Gazette last week.

Speaking to local democracy reporter Shelagh Parkinson, he said: “I’m proud of my 100 per cent attendance at council meetings, and intend to keep that up.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that most tasks can be done via email, phone and video conferencing, and that’s largely how I’ve done my Brunswick casework for many years anyway.”

The councillor, who intends to stand down in 2023, added: “My children live in Blackpool, my parents in the Ribble Valley, and my partner and I have family in Birmingham and Shropshire.

“One of the joys of being almost entirely retired, is that we can split our time between all of those places as and when required.”

Gazette news editor Simon Drury told HTFP: “The story was by local democracy reporter Shelagh Parkinson who used her extensive contacts to put together an entertaining take on the ex-council leader’s decision to relocate to Devon.

“The front page was created by our design hub.”

In 2019, HTFP reported how pressure by the Cambridge News caused former Liberal Democrat Donald Adey to resign from both Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council after he moved to Fife.

Local democracy reporter Josh Thomas even undertook the 800-mile round-trip to confront the then-councillor in person about the issue.