A LOCAL councillor has this week spoken of her of upset and anger' at resigning from her voluntary role at the tourist information centre in Chard.

The on-going problems with the alleged conflict of interest in her work as a town councillor and at the town council-run TIC have fi-nally taken their toll on Cllr Audrey Spencer and she has decided to quit after 15 years of service.

It was reported back in October that the long-serving town councillor had been reported to the Stan-dards Board for England for alleg-edly breaching the council's code of conduct.

Although the allegations have not been made public it is understood that Cllr Spencer has been cleared of accusations of bullying and criticising Chard Town Council clerk John Furze and of showing no res-pect' to another council employee.

But discussions are still believed to be on-going into a second set of alleged breaches of the council's code over her alleged failure to make declarations of interest when goings-on at the TIC have been discussed at committee meetings.

And Cllr Spencer said the worry' over the Standards Board investigations had left her with no alternative.

"I am devastated because I've put my heart and soul into the TIC," she said. "But it's all been very worrying and when it is the first thing I think about when I wake up each morning I knew I had to do it."

Cllr Spencer said she was concerned about the future of the TIC, based in Chard's Guildhall, and hoped that her council colleagues would take a serious look at the issue.

"I have not been able to do a thing to help because I have been barred from speaking at the council's Guildhall and tourism committee meetings due, it is claimed, to me having a prejudicial interest," she said.

"I deny that as I have no financial gain by working there. I am not an unpaid employee - I am a volunteer.

"I feel as if I have let Chard down by not being able to speak at meetings about the TIC and making these points clear to other councillors - that is why I have left the job I loved."

Cllr Spencer's resignation does mean, however, that she will now be entitled to speak on matters relating to the TIC in council meetings.

"I would like to thank everyone for their wonderful support during my long battle with the town council which seems never ending," she added.

It is understood that the town council has only received verbal notification of Cllr Spencer's resignation from TIC and is now awaiting written confirmation.

But a town council spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to comment any further.

"However, if this is now the case then the town council would like to thank Mrs Spencer for the years she has given to the TIC and the people of Chard, and regret her leaving."

A spokesman for the Standards Board of England said it had appointed South Somerset District Council's monitoring officer to look at the alleged breaches of the code of conduct.

A district council spokesman said: "The conclusions of the investigation are not yet back in so we are unable to comment.

"When the report is back in, it will go before our standards committee and will be considered when it will make a decision either way on whether there has been a breach or not.

"We're expecting the report back before Christmas."