Conservative Council Leader Clokie denies cover-up Claims

8.01.19pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 25th Mar 2007

On Thursday Ashford's Kentish Express newspaper reported that the Conservative leader of Ashford Borough Council, Paul Clokie, was refusing to answer questions as to why the boss of the quango, Ashford Future, had resigned suddenly.

Ashford Future is a regeneration quango set up to bring investment to the town.

In a front page article titled "Keeping it Zipped" the Kentish Express newspaper reported that the council had declined to respond to a series of questions. Instead the newspaper received a short statement.

Within a matter of days questions were being answered by Cllr Paul Clokie, not in the Kentish Express, but instead in the Kent on Sunday newspaper.

In a front page article titled "Quango boss resigns after porn scandal" the Kent on Sunday reports that the boss of Ashford Future had resigned after using a work computer to download pornographic images.

In an interview on page 2 of the Kent on Sunday Cllr Paul Clokie denied he had prevented the council tax paying public from finding out the reasons behind the resignation.

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