A COMPLAINT against a councillor who wielded a giant mock syringe during a protest was dropped by the Ombudsman.
Independent Blackwood councillor Kevin Etheridge carried the syringe in protest at plans to convert Highbury House into a drug treatment centre in May 2006.
Blackwood Labour councillor Leon Gardiner made an official complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, saying the giant cardboard syringe was discriminatory to individuals who may have suffered from substance misuse.
He claimed councillor Etheridge had breached Caerphilly council's code of conduct.
But the Ombudsman decided not to investigate the complaint as it did not breach the code.
A letter said: "Individual councillors often support certain causes of importance to their constituents and they are entitled to do this."
Both councillors are candidates for the Blackwood ward in Thursday's council elections.
The full list of candidates for the Blackwood ward is: Nigel Dix, Labour; Kevin Etheridge, independent; Andrew Farina-Childs, Plaid Cymru; Leon Gardiner, Labour; Darren Jones, Plaid Cymru; Margaret Jones, Conservative; Stuart Jones, Conservative; Terri-Anne Matthews, Conservative; Kay Presley, independent; Keith Smallman, independent; Mary Catherine Veater, Labour.
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