DISGRACED former councillor Mike Oram has been advised by the Charity Commission to resign as trustee of a Blandford-based charity.

But he is involved in a second charity, Shaftesbury Online, to the concern of the Charity Commission.

Mr Oram quit North Dorset District Council and Blandford Town Council following his conviction on two counts of downloading child porn from the internet this spring.

He did not give up his chairmanship of North Dorset Volunteer and Community Action (NDVCA) and has since become connected with Shaftesbury Online, an IT facility which operates out of youth drop-in centre Toby's.

Ken Baxter, chairman of Shaftesbury Online, said Mr Oram had offered to help and said the charity would have gone to the wall otherwise.

He said: "If anything happens to any group like ours and if it's a choice between collapsing or surviving, we'll take it. We're doing all we can to keep something alive in Shaftesbury."

Mr Baxter confirmed that Mr Oram had attended an emergency meeting called when Online's funding was suddenly withdrawn and NDVCA had made it possible for Online to keep going.

"We have continued making arrangements," he said.

"We had to discuss things, he was the guy to discuss with, so we did.

"He will have no contact with our users, either Online users or with Toby's."

But the Charity Commission is taking action to end the relationship.

"The charity (NDVCA) is holding its AGM this month, and after that Mike Oram will no longer be a trustee," said a spokesperson.

"We have advised that it is inappropriate for him to remain in this position and he has accepted our advice.

"We can confirm that we have received allegations that Mr Oram is also involved with another charity, Shaftesbury Online.

"We previously advised Mr Oram that he should seek our advice before getting involved with a charity again. Therefore, we will be making contact with Shaftesbury Online to clarify what involvement, if any, he has with them."

First published: September 15