A CONSERVATIVE councillor has been found to have breached a code of conduct after branding the local authority leader a “liar” on Twitter.

Councillor Robert Nemeth, who represents Wish ward on Brighton and Hove City Council, called Labour’s Warren Morgan a liar in a tweet about Hove Library in July.

A complaint was lodged and a standards panel yesterday judged that Cllr Nemeth had broken two clauses of the council’s code of conduct.

Members concluded he had failed to “treat others with respect” and conducted himself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing his office or authority into disrepute.

Cllr Nemeth defend himself against the accusation and slammed the council for wasting resources investigating.

He also informed the panel that he had not sent the tweet to his followers and had instead replied to somebody else’s tweet.

The panel said Cllr Nemeth should delete the tweet.

Members also said he will be offered training on the code of conduct and on the social media protocol for councillors.

The council’s social media protocol will also be reviewed.

Delivering their findings, Diane Bushell, the independent panel chairwoman, said: “Having heard from Cllr Nemeth and his witnesses, the panel concluded that Cllr Nemeth had not substantiated the claims he made in his tweet of July 19, 2016.

“In addition the panel considered that the use the language of ‘liar’ or ‘lying’ is disrespectful and of itself is a breach of the Code.

“The panel also considered that if Cllr Nemeth believed Cllr Morgan had lied, that was a matter that could have been brought through the council’s code of conduct as a standards complaint to be formally investigated.”

The other members of the panel were Green Cllr Tom Druitt, Labour Cllr Alan Robins and Conservative Cllr Ann Norman.

Cllr Nemeth denied breaking the code of conduct and hit out at what he said was a huge waste of resources investigating the matter.

He said: “I continue to be grateful for the opportunity that has been afforded to me to state my case orally, as was promised to me early on.

“Yet I remain bemused and frustrated that such resources have gone into protecting ... a grown man, indeed, the leader of the council ... from a tweet that nobody even saw.”