THREE members of trouble-hit Conwy Town Council and its clerk have resigned.

The Authority has been the centre of controversy for some time with allegations and counter allegations, with two councillors being suspended for a month at the end of last year.

Two of the three councillors who resigned are Cllr Terry James, and Cllr Pat Hart, who are married.

The Pioneer reported last December how they had originally been accused of bullying and harassing members of the town council’s staff.

But an investigation by the Ombudsman for Wales found no evidence to support these allegations.

The third councillor to resign is Cllr Martin Craven.

In addition, the Conwy Town Council's clerk, Natasha Flint has resigned from her position.

The Mayor of Conwy, Cllr Emma Leighton-Jones said: “The circumstances surrounding the two resignations received are different but I admit it has been a difficult few months and have to respect the decisions these individuals have made.

“It is important in a town council that individuals are able to contribute for the period where they can and step away when they feel it is necessary.

"All town councillors are volunteers and do this role out of a sense of giving something to the community, it is a shame that current circumstances have led to the situation we are in.

“I very much hope that Conwy Town Council can pull together and move forwards for the good of the communities we represent."

Mrs Flint, said: “I am very sad I have resigned.

“When I joined the Council I wanted to be a servant of the community. I am heartbroken because of the poor standards of behaviour of a select few of the town councillors towards me.

“I was systematically undermined, both in council meetings and at work, and it made my life untenable and my health has significantly suffered.

“My heart is still 100 per cent for the community which the Town Council should be serving.”

Cllrs Terry James and Pat Hart jointly said: “We have resigned from Conwy Town Council because things have gone badly over the past couple of months.

“We were suspended for a month from the Council and the documents for our appeal against this were lost by the Authorities.

“A day after the suspension ended in January, we took part in a Zoom council meeting in which neither of us said anything, yet within 24 hours another complaint was laid with the Ombudsman about us. It alleged we had attended a meeting during the period of suspension last December. This was not factual, we attended no meeting during the suspension.

“The Ombudsman advised us that he could not say how long an investigation into this complaint would take.

"We therefore decided to resign as the previous investigation took more than 24 months, and we don’t want this hanging over us for a similar period again.”

Cllr Craven said: “Recent events have confirmed to me there are members of this council who I do not wish to be associated with. Their attitude and the way in which they perform are appalling.

“Having gone through a full election to win my seat on the council, I was very proud to take my oath as a councillor and looked forward to representing my ward.

“I felt quite shocked to find so many who had simply been co-opted on or had been elected many years ago and have sat on the council unopposed and many of whom their residents do not even know who they are.”

He added: “I have found the majority of members to be excellent councillors who I have a lot of respect for, who work tirelessly for their communities and whom I will miss, but I would not expect to put up with such behaviour at meetings in my full-time employment let alone in a purely voluntary role.

“It has not been an easy decision, volunteering is something I have done for a long time and I was very proud to be a Town Councillor.”