MAYOR of Portland Richard Paisley thanked islanders for their support after police cleared him over an allegation of theft.

Mr Paisley was arrested last year and was due to visit Weymouth Police Station to answer his bail tomorrow.

But he has been told he is no longer part of any investigation into reports of stolen equipment and does not need to go.

Mr Paisley has denied the allegations throughout but temporarily stood down from his role as mayor after he was arrested at the start of December.

He was visited by officers looking into reports that a flushing rig had gone missing from Portland Port where he runs his own business.

But he has now received a letter from the police releasing him from enquiries.

He said: “The support from the Portland people has been absolutely fantastic.

“Those that know me and even those that don’t said they never believed a word and this just proves it.

We can get down to a bit of normality now hopefully.”

Mr Paisley owns Paisley Plant Hire Limited in Portland Port where he runs the business with his wife Corinne.

The investigation centred on a flushing rig which Mr Paisley said was on the car park for six months before he was asked to move it.

He added: “It was a big misunderstanding on everybody’s part. The police have done their job, although it’s taken longer than I expected.

“They had to go through their full investigation.”

Mr Paisley said he was arrested after the owner spotted the flushing rig at a site in Weymouth. He was not asked to stand down as mayor but decided to hand over the reins to deputy David Thurston after his arrest – saying he wanted to pass over the responsibility ‘until this is resolved’.

He returned as mayor in January before receiving the letter telling him he was released from police bail.

Mr Paisley added: “I did the right thing in the first place but I’ve been back now for two or three weeks.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “A 47-year-old man from Portland has been released from police bail and no further action is being taken.”