A COUNCILLOR accused of pushing a member of the public and verbally abusing him has been cleared following an investigation.

Cllr Alan Penson was reported to Hampshire Police and New Forest District Council after an incident alleged to have happened at Lymington town hall in September last year.

But no action is being taken against Cllr Penson, who is chairman of Lymington Town Council’s policy and resources committee.

The complaint was lodged by Mike Woodford, of Gilbert Close, Lymington, who attends almost every meeting of the authority and has often been involved in heated exchanges with councillors.

Mr Woodford claimed that Cllr Penson swore at him and attempted to push him out of the council chamber after they were involved in an altercation.

Confrontation In a statement to the district council’s monitoring team Cllr Penson said: “He confronted me and came so close that I felt threatened.

“I very gently eased him away from me to maintain some space between us. I did not attempt to push him out of the chamber or ‘battery assault’ him as he claimed at a subsequent meeting.”

Mr Woodford has now received the outcome of the council’s investigation into his complaint.

The report accuses him of being “provocative” on the evening in question and adds that any strong words spoken by Cllr Penson were probably the result of anger and frustration.

It adds: “The monitoring team also note that the police have looked into the matter and that no action was taken.”