Road boss in Twitter probe is sacked
A TOP county highways boss, who found himself at the centre of a social media storm, has been sacked.
Mike Scott, who was Head of Sustainable Transport at Northumberland County Council, was dismissed from his post in December, the authority has confirmed.
The council has refused to give its reason for the action.
Mr Scott had been on leave from the authority since a complaint was made about offensive comments posted on social media site Twitter under his name and profile picture. The posts, which were made between June and September last year, included offensive language, crude descriptions of national politicians Eric Pickles and George Osborne, criticism of NHS management, political comment and a derogatory remark referring to a benefits claimant.
On the day after a public meeting about the much-criticised Telford Bridge traffic lights in Morpeth, a message was posted stating: “After last night I officially h8 all bus drivers.”
Images of the feed were posted on a Facebook campaign page about the lights and an official complaint was made to the county council. It is not known if the posts were genuine and Mr Scott previously declined to comment on the matter.
The council also initially refused to comment on the issue, but after a meeting organised by Mr Scott to discuss the lights was cancelled in September, the authority admitted that a complaint had been received and an internal investigation was under way.
No update has been given about the probe.
This week, a council spokeswoman said: “Mike Scott was dismissed from his employment with the county council on 4 December, 2012. We are not commenting on the reason for the dismissal.”
Mr Scott could not be contacted for comment.
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Weather for Morpeth
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
