Wiltshire Council has confirmed that no further action will be taken on the leader of the council's Liberal Democrats' involvement in a complaint which accused him and his deputy of electoral fraud.

This comes after Wiltshire Police closed the case, finding that no criminal offences had been committed, judging it to be a matter for the council’s constitution and members’ conduct instead.

Wiltshire Council’s Lib Dem leader Ian Thorn said he prized his “integrity” and his “reputation for honesty”, noting that it had been “a difficult and stressful time”.

READ MORE: Police inquiries into 'electoral fraud' at Wiltshire Council dropped

An image of the complaint statement was leaked at the end of October and revealed that the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Cllr Gordon King, was accused of reaching over to use the voting console of the Lib Dem leader, Cllr Ian Thorn, whilst he was absent.

This alleged incident occurred at the full council meeting on Tuesday, October 15, during a debate on a motion related to car usage in Wiltshire.

Cllr Thorn was present at the meeting, but he had stepped out of the chamber when the vote on a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Conservative motion occurred.

Commenting on the leaked complaint, the leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer, expressed that this “would be really shocking”.

Although the council itself was not previously able to comment on the complaint due to the confidentiality of the investigation, it has now broken its silence on the outcome for Cllr Thorn.

A spokesperson said: “It has been determined that no further action will be taken on this complaint.”

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The council cannot comment further on whether the alleged actions of Cllr King are still being investigated for confidentiality reasons.

Cllr Thorn said: “I would like to thank officers for the professional way they managed the process.

“I always made clear that I didn’t ask a colleague to vote me in a council meeting and made that clear to the investigation.

“That is the conclusion of the investigation.

“The complaints process is designed to be confidential to ensure that anyone wrongly accused is not subject to unwarranted publicity.

“Sadly details of the complaint were leaked to the local press.

“Those involved also tried to involve the Police, who, of course, rejected any wrong doing.

“I prize my integrity and my reputation for honesty.

“Those who leaked this information should be ashamed of themselves.

“Despite knowing that the truth would come out, this has been a difficult and stressful time.”