EVERY member of a parish council near York has been rapped by a standards board, over a land row which dragged on for years.

Strensall with Towthorpe Parish Council was called in to a standards hearing at City of York Council in October, and the case ended with every member of the parish council being censured over a series of decisions and letters which discriminated against a couple in the village.

Graham and Mandy Harrison have lived in Strensall since 2000, but problems began in 2007 when they put a road crossing over a small patch of land, to get a second access into their home.

Mr Harrison said: “It’s been going on so long it’s frightening. It’s had a huge impact on us - financially and the stress. It’s been horrendous.”

The land concerned is owned by City of York Council but leased to the parish council, and the row started over whether the right body had given permission, and escalated in the years that followed when the Harrisons wanted to put utility cables over the land to serve a planned new house.

The parish council refused to allow it, and an investigator has since found that decision put the couple at an unfair disadvantage, while many of the council’s other dealings with them were disrespectful.

In letters sent to the Harrisons, the parish council accused them of trying to “profit by deception” - something the investigator could find no evidence for - and made upsetting references to a family bereavement. The joint standards board at City of York Council decided that each parish councillor be formally censured and suggested they “may wish to consider issuing an apology”.The parish council declined to comment. Since the hearing some members have left the council.