SACKED Pocklington Town Council clerk Martin Layton is today celebrating after an employment tribunal decided he was unfairly dismissed.

He called for the resignation of former town mayor and East Riding county councillor Rowan Blake-James, after the tribunal said she "encouraged" a campaign to remove Mr Layton.

Taxpayers in Pocklington could be facing a big bill, with Mr Layton set to claim as much as £45,000.

Mr Layton, the town clerk for 15 years, brought the tribunal after he was dismissed for gross misconduct following a meeting of the council's disciplinary panel last year.

At the tribunal, held last month, the council claimed that Mr Layton had lied about placing an item on an agenda, destroying the trust between the council and its clerk.

But Mr Layton said certain councillors were "gunning" for him and resolved to seal his fate "one way or the other".

Agreeing that disciplinary procedures used to sack him were flawed, the tribunal unanimously decided his dismissal was unfair.

And the tribunal report, obtained by the Evening Press, concludes that Coun Blake-James supported a "campaign" designed to remove Mr Layton from his post.

The report states: "We have no doubt that the respondent local authority, at the encouragement of Coun Blake-James, from the spring of 2000 had embarked upon a campaign designed to marginalise the applicant and to achieve the termination of his long service as town clerk.

"There was a determination to achieve his dismissal and minds were closed to any possible alternative course of action."

The report also said that even if Mr Layton had deceived the council the deception was "trivial in its content".

A delighted Mr Layton said: "I am pleased to have won. I have been shattered by the whole ordeal. It has been horrendous over the past two years. At least now, people can see what has gone on.

"This report appears so damning it is almost unbelievable. My initial

reaction is that anyone involved will have to resign. For Coun Blake-James, I would have thought it makes her position untenable.

"This could cost a lot of money. My claim is for four years' salary, or about £45,000."

But Coun Blake-James, who could shortly become chairman of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: "I am quite upset by some of the things said in the report. There are factual inaccuracies. There are assumptions I can't agree with.

"All the town council are very disappointed. The bottom line is that we took the most qualified and advance advice at every stage."

When asked about calls for her resignation, Coun Blake-James said: "I would be guided by my fellow town councillors.

The hearing will be reconvened on May 16 to discuss the level of damages to be awarded to Mr Layton.

Updated: 11:10 Monday, April 15, 2002