Oldham council’s head of planning has resigned.

Stephen Irvine has quit Oldham Council

The town hall launched an investigation into ‘allegations’ relating to Stephen Irvine.

The council would not confirm the reason for the internal probe.

But bosses said it did not relate to Mr Irvine’s role supporting the council’s planning committee, nor to advice relating to any planning decision or outcome.

They said they ‘regret’ details of the ‘internal process’ had been made public before the investigation had concluded.

Council chiefs said Mr Irvine’s decision to leave ‘brings to an end any ongoing internal investigations’.

Helen Lockwood, Oldham council’s deputy chief executive said in a statement: “I can confirm that Stephen Irvine has resigned as head of planning at Oldham council.

“This decision brings to an end any ongoing internal investigations.

“However, we can confirm that the allegations made were not related to his role in supporting the council’s planning committee nor to the advice or outcome of any planning decision.

“We regret that the details of an internal process relating to an employee were made public before we had chance to undertake an investigation or reach any conclusion as to the validity of those allegations.

“We wish Steve well in the future and thank him for all his hard work for Oldham council over the years.”

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