A LABOUR district councillor, who claims party chiefs have told him he cannot stand again as a candidate in May's local elections, says he may fight his ward as an independent.

Councillor Athol Deakin, who represents Sidemoor, says he was suspended from the Labour party by regional officers after he appeared in court last year charged with assaulting a neighbour. This is despite the Standards Board for England, the body which oversees the conduct and behaviour of people in public life, opting to take no action against him. Cllr Deakin said: "The job I set out to do in Sidemoor is only half finished. I intend to come back and finish it."