A COUNCILLOR is facing an investigation after calling Bury Council’s leader a “cheeky bleeder”.

Cllr Donal O’Hanlon, pictured, made the comment on his website on May 17, a day after the first full council meeting of the council year.

In a post called Full Council a travesty!, Cllr O’Hanlon, a Liberal Democrat who represents St Mary’s ward in Prestwich, talked about a speech made by Labour councillor Mike Connolly.

Cllr O’Hanlon wrote: “(He) blathered on about what a great job he and his team had done last year.

“They claimed responsibility for things we put into our budget amendments, but don’t they always?

“The cheeky bleeder even said ‘Who could forget . . .we introduced free car parking in Prestwich’.

“Well actually Mikey — you forgot it in your speech the year before — you even forgot it in your budget amendment and we all had to write it in ourselves — it shows what you think of the people of Prestwich.”

Cllr O’Hanlon called Cllr Connolly’s performance nauseating and said, if he were mayor, he would have “slapped him down with the ceremonial mace”.

He finished his post by writing: “Connolly only once mentioned ‘reductions in resources’ in reference to the forthcoming years.

“To anyone that doesn’t know ‘blarney’, that is a euphemism for ‘redundancies and cutbacks’.

“So, if you (council workers) ever see him in your department, huddling with the boss and you hear those words, it may be time to sharpen your interview skills and get your thinking cap on.”

A complaint was made to Bury Council about the web post and it was discussed by Bury Standards sub-committee on June 11.

Councillors have a code of conduct which states they must treat counterparts with respect.

It is understood the sub-committee decided there has been a potential breach of the code and that it should be investigated.

The committee can order those who breach the code to write letters of apology or, in extreme cases, strike them off as councillors.

Cllr O’Hanlon said: “I am waiting for a letter about this matter to arrive from the town hall and would not like to comment until then.”

Cllr Connolly declined to comment.