A MAYOR plans to refer himself to a council’s standards committee in an attempt to quash allegations made about the controversial sale of a listed building.

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon made the pledge following a confrontation between himself and Brambles Farm and North Ormesby Councillor Len Junier over comments made on social media.

The row erupted when the independent councillor questioned the value of the sale of Acklam Hall on Twitter and at a council meeting.

Following years of negotiations with potential developers and English Heritage the town’s only Grade I-listed building is now poised for a £2m transformation paid for by luxury housing in its grounds to create a Wynyard-style estate.

In October, Mr Mallon confronted Cllr Junier about comments made in an October council meeting and on the social networking site, suggesting that the deal was “dodgy” as the land was worth £750,000 per acre but only £600,000 had been paid for the building and its 32 acres.

And now he has taken the decision to take the complaint to the council’s standards committee so the sale of the building ban be scrutinised.

Cllr Junier, who is campaigning to become Middlesbrough mayor in the May elections, has said he “would not be shutting up” over the issue and has now passed his concerns to the local government secretary Eric Pickles and the Audit Commission.

A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: “A number of these online posts suggest that some form of malpractice, at best, or criminality, at worst, has taken place regarding the sale of Acklam Hall.

“The council considers such suggestions to be a very serious allegation and is keen to see the evidence upon which these claims could be based.

“The council has written twice to both parties involved requesting that evidence be provided or the comments withdrawn. To date neither has occurred.

“In the absence of any evidence the council views these comments as defamatory.

“Indeed, the developer involved is taking appropriate legal advice on the matter of libel.

“Additionally, the mayor considers that the only way to ensure that the matter is properly dealt with is to avail himself to the Standards Committee so that the councillor and the member of the public involved have the opportunity to present the evidence upon which they have based their online postings before an independent body.”

Cllr Junier said: “It’s no surprise to me that Mayor Mallon wants to put himself in the middle of this.

“The comments I made were never about Ray Mallon, it was about whether the authority and tax payers got best value from that deal.”