A SENIOR councillor has said he will continue posting on social media after a complaint against him was rejected.

Tim Young, deputy leader of Colchester Council, offended Tweeters when he called them ‘“doom mongers, naysayers, losers and keyboard warriors”.

The comment followed Mr Young’s article published in the Gazette earlier this month.

Mr Young, councillor responsible for culture and regeneration, praised the town’s achievements and defended its record in attracting tourists.

He also highlighted his own contributions and finished by saying Colchester deserves to be in the premier league of English visitor destinations.

After a row on Twitter, Scott Everest, who Tweets under the alias of Colonel Camulos, made a formal complaint to the council about the deputy leader’s conduct.

However, Andrew Weavers, monitoring officer at the council, concluded no further action would be taken.

He said: “I have read the trail provided and note the comments you are referring to were made on Twitter by Councillor Tim Young in his private capacity.

“I cannot see they were specifically directed at any particular individual(s) and even if they had been made in his official capacity, I cannot see they would have amounted to a breach of the Councillor Code of Conduct.”

Mr Everest said the feedback came as a surprise and he wants the decision reviewed.

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He said: “There have been precedents with both councillor Roger Buston and ex-councillor Ben Locker, who were admonished for making comments which equally had no intended target, yet the complaint was taken more seriously and steps were taken to formally investigate.

“The comments were made concerning an opinion piece by Tim and publicly derided my efforts to solicit feedback from tourists concerning their favourite attractions.

“This was also done in the capacity as a portfolio holder.”

Mr Young defended his comments, calling the offended parties “hypersensitive”.

He said: “I get fed up when I try to promote Colchester and others bring it down all the time so I’m perfectly within my rights to have a say.

“You have to take these things in the spirit of how they were said.

“A couple of people who had a go stood in the last elections for Conservatives and didn’t win, which makes them losers in that sense.

“I’ve got no time for doom mongers and naysayers and I’ll continue with my responsible social media output as usual.”

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