A COUNCILLOR who swore at a competition winner will not be punished other than to be sent a letter reminding him of council rules, it has been revealed.

Chingford Conservative Cllr Laurance Wedderburn was found guilty of breaching the authority's code of conduct after he admitted telling Walthamstow photographer Katherine Green to "f*** off" at an event.

The decision was made by a panel of councillors last week but the details of his sanction were not initially made public or told to Ms Green.

Punishments available to the panel included proposing that the full council vote on a motion censuring him and/or a recommendation that he is not nominated to sit on any committees in future.

But the panel said a swift apology by Cllr Wedderburn was a mitigating factor and said a letter was sufficient.

They also claimed that the Guardian's coverage of the case constituted a form of punishment.

They said: "It was noted that Cllr Wedderburn had faced adverse press and publicity surrounding this matter and was a form of penalty."

The panel, chaired by Conservative Cllr Geoff Walker alongside Labour's Cllr Naheed Asghar and Cllr Shameem Highfield, said Cllr Wedderburn's behaviour was "clearly unacceptable".

The incident happened at an event in the grounds of Waltham Forest Town Hall celebrating the arrival of the Olympic Torch in July.

Cllr Wedderburn argued he attended as a member of the public and was not acting in his role as an elected representative at the time, but the council panel did not agree.

Ms Green attended the event after winning a ticket in a competition held by Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy.

Cllr Wedderburn, who has not responded to the Guardian's requests for a comment, has the right to appeal within seven days.