'No action' will be taken against the leader of South Kesteven District Council over the possibility he may have breached 'purdah' rules concerning elections.

Opposition councillor Ashley Baxter (Market and West Deeping) complained to the chief executive of SKDC, Karen Bradford, that Coun Kelham Cooke may have breach rules in an email which contained a tribute to Prince Philip.

Following the sad death of the Duke of Edinburgh, Coun Cooke emailed businesspeople to tell them that tomorrow's (Thur) InvestSK 'tea break' event had been cancelled as a mark of respect.

But Coun Baxter said in an email to Mrs Bradford the tribute "is a clear breach of the rules of purdah by using a Council owned company to promote a Conservative election candidate."

Both Coun Cooke (Con-Casewick) and Coun Baxter are standing in the May 6 Lincolnshire County Council elections, though in separate wards.

Coun Baxter suggested a council official or another director of InvestSK could have made the tribute or sent the email to help prevent such a breach of purdah.

As Nub News reported yesterday, Coun Baxter added: "The message now looks like a shoddy attempt to make political capital out of the death of a respected member of the Royal Family."

However, Mrs Bradford responded: "The pre-election or purdah period is currently in place and as you are aware that Council resources cannot be used to the favour of any candidate or indeed any party. As a result, we review our business and forward plans to avoid politically sensitive matters. The pre-election period does not prevent "normal" business from going ahead. "In the situation which you have raised, Cllr Cooke in his roles as a Chairman and Company Director of Invest SK has written to businesses to express his condolences and to cancel meetings as a mark of respect. I do not accept that this action is a breach of the Pre-Election rules as in the first place it does not promote him as a candidate or his party. "Secondly the correspondence was sent on behalf of Invest SK, a company which is legally separate for the council. In addition to this the main purpose of the email was to inform colleagues of a meeting cancellation which is normal business." Mrs Bradford added: "In your email of 13th April 2021 you have made allegations about my impartiality and that of my team. I can assure you that as an officer I take decisions based on evidence in an impartial and professional manner. My decision would be the same irrespective of the candidate involved. "I hope that I have clarified the situation and I can confirm that I will not be taking any further action. "