A councillor has criticised a disciplinary process which took a year to find he had done nothing wrong.

Ben Duncan, who represents Brighton and Hove City Council on Sussex Police Authority, was accused of misconduct in an anonymous complaint about his Internet blogs and attendance at demonstrations.

However after a lengthy investigation and a second review, Coun Duncan spoke out after learning he had been cleared.

He said it was wrong for standards procedures to be used to complain about pelple's opinions.

He said: "It is an abuse of the system and a waste of public money.

"This must have cost thousands of pounds. The standards board should be used to tackle allegations of real wrongdoing.

"It is not just that there is nothing wrong with expressing an opinion on policing, you could say if you're not doing that you're not doing the job properly."

Coun Duncan, the Green council's cabinet member for public protection, was accused of bringing the police authority into disrepute by criticising police tactics against anti-arms activists campaigning to close the EDO factory in Moulsecoomb.

Sussex Police Authority said it was unable to comment on the cost or use of the standards process.