A COUNCILLOR who, it was claimed, made “racist and xenophobic” comments at a meeting last week has been cleared of wrongdoing.

Complaints were lodged against Poole People councillor Mark Howell claiming he said he “tended to assume” the presence of the police helicopter over Poole Port at night was related to illegal immigrants.

But a police spokesman said its investigation found his comments were “not racially-motivated”. Cllr Howell has now filed complaints against BCP Council’s equalities representative over what he said was “an untrue and malicious accusation”.

The neighbourhood policing meeting, at which the row centres, was held in private and was attended by council and police officers.

At its end, Ukip councillor Diana Butler asked the police representative about reasons for their helicopter being called in.

Cllr Howell told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he then said he “tended to assume that the port activity was related to illegal immigrants”.

He said he concluded this because illegal immigrants try and enter through Poole and the helicopter would often appear shortly after the arrival of the Barfleur ferry.

But complaints were made about his comment.

Councillor Bobbie Dove, the council’s lead member for equalities, who was not at the meeting, said on Twitter Cllr Howell’s comment was “racist and xenophobic”.

She said he said: “Every time I hear a helicopter in Poole town I assume it’s the police chasing an illegal immigrant from the port”. She said “multiple sources” had confirmed this.

This was denied by Cllr Howell who accused her of “adjusting the wording to sound more off-the-cuff and inflammatory”

A spokesman for Dorset Police said there had been no wrongdoing.

“As a result of an investigation, the officer present confirmed they had heard the conversation, along with the wider context, and was satisfied that the remarks were not racially-motivated and if they had perceived them as such they would have challenged at the time,” they said.

Poole People said the allegation was “untrue and malicious” and it had reported Cllr Dove to police and the council’s standards board.