A COUNCILLOR has been accused of bringing the council into disrepute by a group opposing development of a park.

The Standards Board for England has been sent a complaint about the Labour group leader and deputy mayor Councillor Gavin Moore over his claims the development was not on but "near to" the park and for saying primary school children had been misled over the plans.

He made the comments in a letter to News Shopper on December 15 following an article about youngsters from Sir Francis Drake Primary School, who wrote letters to councillors asking them to save the park.

Deptford Park Residents' Association is claiming Cllr Moore breached the code of conduct for councillors and contend his letter is deliberately misleading when it says the park will not be sold.

Cllr Moore's letter in response to the story about the youngsters claimed the children had been given "misleading information" and the land being sold was "near to Deptford Park".

Justin Dowd, chairman of the association, said: "Councillor Moore was given no less than two opportunities to withdraw his comments and apologise, yet he chose to stand by his misleading, unsubstantiated and highly-offensive comments.

"We hope disciplinary action by the Standards Board will help him realise he is accountable and we expect our elected representatives to act in a more intelligent and professional manner."

Lewisham Council has given housing association London & Quadrant (L&Q) the go-ahead to build on land which is part of the 100-year-old park but is described as the "vacant site of 68 to 88 Evelyn Street".

The Standards Board says it is not able to comment on the complaint until it has been fully considered and a decision on whether to investigate the claims has been made.

Cllr Moore had no comment to make but council officers confirmed a complaint had also been received by them.