A councillor claims she acted on legal advice when she breached the councillors' code of conduct.

Llanwenarth Ultra councillor Verona Nelmes says she took advice from Monmouthshire council's legal department before failing to declare a financial interest when voting on plans for a new Abergavenny market.

The former Monmouthshire council cabinet member's son sells gardening equipment and tools from his market stall at the market.

The Conservatives reported the alleged breach to the ombudsman, who confirmed that Mrs Nelmes failed to comply with the code in a report to be discussed by the standards committee.

The ombudsman's recommendations are not binding.

After examining his report, the standards committee will either dismiss the case for insufficient evidence or agree with the ombudsman. This will allow Mrs Nelmes to defend herself at a later date.

Mrs Nelmes said she opted out of discussing market traders but participated in debates on supermarket plans for the Cattle Market.

She also sought advice from the legal department on her position before the meeting on April 29 last year and claims she was told it was fine to take part in discussing local regeneration.

The ombudsman says it was "unreasonable" for Mrs Nelmes to decide she didn't have to declare interest in view of the nature and location of her son's business.

The report says Mrs Nelmes should have concluded that "a member of the public might reasonably conclude it would significantly affect her ability to act purely on the merits of the case and in the public interest".

The ombudsman also says: "The fact that she spoke to the monitoring officer suggests she had no deliberate intention of flouting the code."

Mrs Nelmes said: "I am being investigated for not declaring an interest at a special cabinet meeting on Abergavenny's regeneration but I only discussed the future of the Cattle Market site and not the Brewery Yard which held implications for market traders."