THE leader of Worcester City Council has been reported to a standards watchdog over controversial appointments to a leading charity, it has emerged.

Councillor Adrian Gregson is facing a probe over the saga at Worcester Municipal Charities, which has a £1.1 million budget.

As the Worcester News revealed back in October four vacancies for trustee roles on the charity have been filled by past or present Labour politicians, leading rival Conservatives fuming.

The positions are traditionally split on political grounds but Cllr Gregson opted to change tack, with rival councillors calling it "extraordinary" and accusing him of trying to build a "fiefdom" in December.

An in-house standards procedure will now result in the matter being investigated to see if any rules have been broken.

The row is another embarrassment for the council's role in assisting the charity, which has 19 trustees from a range of backgrounds.

Six of them are appointed by the council, who meet monthly to help dish out grants to the needy.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the Conservative's group leader, has referred it to the standards committee.

He said: "I regret having to do this, I really hoped I wouldn't have to take this action, but I'm outraged to be perfectly honest.

"Under our Code of Conduct you are meant to be objective, but clearly that has not happened here."

The disagreement centres around the Tories seeking to get Alan Tidy, the chairman of St Peter's Parish Council, a trustee position.

Mr Tidy is also a treasurer of the city's Conservative Association and has a long career in business and charity work.

He chairs a board which manages a pension scheme worth more than £250 million and is a former HR director of a FTSE 250 listed company, Essentra plc.

Cllr Gregson opted to re-appoint Labour councillors Paul Denham and Geoff Williams as trustees as well as ex-city councillor Rob Peachey, and handed the other vacancy to former Labour politician and businessman Richard Boorn.

He has always maintained the roles are strictly not political, saying he appointed the people he knew best - as is the leader's right.

He said: "There is a due process to follow, but my conscience is clear that I have made a decision that I am able to make."

He did suggest he was prepared to reconsider Mr Tidy's bid in December, telling the council's scrutiny committee he would look at it again, but decided to stick to the original decision.