A PARISH councillor has been cautioned by police for assault following an incident at the end of last month's Crossways Parish Council meeting.

Abi Scard was arrested at home in connection with an incident in which she threw water over Coun Andrew Brewer in front of other councillors and members of the public.

Inspector Les Fry of Dorchester Police said: "A 51-year-old woman from Crossways was arrested and dealt with through the judicial system. She was given an official caution for common assault."

He said the arrest followed a complaint made to the police of assault. The complaint was supported by witness statements.

He said the caution marked the end of the matter.

Coun Scard told the Echo: "I would like to make no comment. I'll just leave it at that."

Villager Fleur Chitson spoke about the arrest during the public participation part of the annual parish council meeting.

She said Coun Scard knew she would raise the issue and that the councillor had claimed she had been victimised and bullied since joining the council.

Mrs Chitson asked the council to resign en masse and put themselves up for re-election to end what she called backstabbing and cliqueiness.

And former councillor Geoffrey Northcote, who recently resigned, also criticised the council, describing it as dysfunctional.

But chairman Daniel Smy urged everyone to overcome their differences and work together for the benefit of the community.

He said the past year had been exceptionally difficult. He read out a list of 13 complaints made to the Standards Board, mostly made by Coun Peter Read, a ward member for West Dorset District Council, and most cleared without investigation.

In one case Coun Andrew Brewer had been cleared of two allegations and found to have made one minor breach of the code of conduct for parish councillors. He said Coun Brewer had not been censured but the whole council had been asked to undertake more training.

He urged councillors to overcome personality differences and to set realistic goals for the village.

During the meeting Coun Smy was re-elected chairman with Joyce Rhodes as vice chairman and Andrew Brewer as vice chairman for finance.

An election will be held on July 17 to replace Mr Northcote. Coun Caroline Round is also stepping down due to other commitments.

Caught in the crossfire at Crossways council

WARFARE is all around in the village of Crossways, writes Dee Adcock. This is a community that summoned blitz spirit nearly 70 years ago to play its part in the darkest days of war.

But now hostility is breaking out all over again and the homely hall becomes a theatre, not just for village pantos and am-drams, but for warfare - in the form of heavy bombardment - in the parish council.

Personality clashes, rows and complaints in the village hall seem to promise better entertainment than the average TV soap opera, judging by the turn-out of villagers at the latest meeting. They were not disappointed.

In fact, the fiercest Crossways crossfire came from villagers themselves during public participation before the main meeting.

Accusations ricocheted round the room as a handful of villagers vied in the strength of their criticism of councillors. In the process they lobbed insults and, possibly, slanders with ease.

Like the best snipers, they are hard to pin down. Their rat-a-tat outbursts are a strange combination of excessive detail and mysterious hints, frequently overlaid with syrupy courtesy - all Mr Chairman this and Mr Chairman that - that fools nobody. I suppose you need to be familiar with Crossways crosscurrents to tell whether the barbs are hitting their marks or simply plopping noisily all over the place.

From time to time chairman Daniel Smy felt obliged to stand up and correct the worst of the inaccuracies.

Four councillors were absent with Abi Scard, David Smith, Thelma Smith and Valerie Bache having sent their apologies. Geoffrey Northcote resigned and an election to fill his place will be held in July. Another - Caroline Round - is resigning because of a clash with other commitments.

The remaining troops - Councillors Smy, Elaine Stenning, Joyce Rhodes, Andrew Brewer and Terri Connor plus clerk Stella Wilson - soldiered on with the agenda. They tackled those planning applications, that sorry old bus shelter and all the rest without a single cross word.

Is it a truce? Has peace broken out in the village at war? Has the clarion call from Coun Smy for councillors to work together for the good of the community been heeded? Perhaps - but don't take the tin hat off yet.