THE Ledbury town councillor who took her own town council to a judicial review as a matter of principle and won, after fellow councillors accused her of bullying staff and imposed sanctions, will not seek damages from the public purse.

But the town council could still face legal costs as high as £200,000 for being on the losing side, after a High Court judge ruled strongly against the council. The final figure is yet to be revealed.

The Reporter understands the costs could eat up the majority of the town council's reserves, unless they can be covered through insurance.

Speaking after the court ruling was made public, Cllr Liz Harvey said: "I was advised by my solicitors that I was entitled to claim damages.

"I made it clear I had no intention of exercising this right and adding to the burden already placed upon the public purse by a few councillors’ unlawful actions."

Cllr Harvey added: "I feel that what Ledbury Town Council did to me was a dangerous distortion of the law which could not go unchallenged."

Now Cllr Harvey is looking forward to sitting, speaking and voting again on town council committees, having been unable to do this for almost two years, because of the sanctions.

She will sit on committees again, alongside fellow councillor, Andrew Harrison who, like Cllr Harvey, was also accused of bullying staff and sanctioned.

He also vehemently denied the accusations.

The judge, Justice Cockerill, in making her ruling said: "I have no reason to believe that anyone involved has acted otherwise than in what they thought to be the best interests of their local area and the employees of the council."

But she also said of bullying accusations: "Was the behaviour beyond that which public servants can be expected to tolerate? It would be hard to answer this question safely."

She made reference to a "a detailed but unspecific complaint in 2016" and added: "That complaint was never apparently broken down into specific elements which could then be investigated to see if they should, separately or together, properly be categorised as bullying."

Justice Cockerill said: "I would therefore be minded to conclude, if the issue arose on the basis of unchallenged findings of bullying, that the action decided on (by the Town Council) was unreasonable and disproportionate."

A separate Code of Conduct investigation by Herefordshire Council found neither Cllr Harvey nor Cllr Harrison to be in breach of the Code, which covers how councillors must treat others.

Justice Cockerill said: "As regards the Code proceedings, this may not offer the silver bullet contended for by Cllr Harvey, but it does constitute a factor which should have been taken into account."

The town council's actions were unlawful in that they should have followed procedures laid down in the Localism Act of 2011, instead of their own disciplinary procedures, and in imposing and extending sanctions, the council acted beyond its powers.

Justice Cockerill also ruled that the town council's actions in this matter were "substantially unfair" because Cllr Harvey had not been given a proper opportunity to respond to accusations.

Now Cllr Harvey is looking to an invigorated town council, with new faces, although she has no intention of standing as mayor for this year.

Former mayor Bob Barnes, who resigned at the annual town meeting in April, defended the council's actions, which led to a costly day in court.

He said: "We cannot walk away from a legal challenge where people accuse you of being unlawful.

"The decision to defend our position at the judicial review was carried by a majority."

Martin Eager, another long-standing Ledbury councillor, who resigned shortly after the annual town meeting said: "The procedure adopted by the council with a majority vote may or may not have been flawed, but it was all taken under advice and was supported by full council, again by a majority vote.

"Subsequently the council had no choice than to defend its actions when challenged by the Judicial Review, again supported by full council."