SKIPTON’S deputy mayor has been forced to apologise for what he calls his ‘drunken’ behaviour which saw him and his wife banned from a town club and the police called.

Town councillor Darren Shaw was ousted from Moorview Social Club on Saturday, September 25, after becoming ‘loud and abusive’ according to a letter which the Herald has seen and which had been sent to Cllr Shaw afterwards.

The letter read: “Following the unfortunate incident at the club we have received a number of complaints from members who were in attendance. After reviewing security footage it would appear you took offence at a committee man who smiled but did not actually speak to you at the time. Following this when other committee members rightly became involved, both you and the parties which you signed in became loud and abusive. Committee members and bar staff were subjected to abusive name-calling and threats of violence. You personally were shown to lunge violently at two separate committee men.

“When you were finally persuaded to leave, you and your party then continued the loud verbal disturbance outside. This culminated with a resident from a neighbouring property reporting your disturbance to the police. When the police arrived the barman persuaded them not to take further action as we had the situation under control.

“We were disappointed with the actions of yourself and members of your party, of which you were responsible. Continuing the fracas outside shows a blatant disregard for local residents.

“We, the committee” feel the yobbish actions of yourself, your partner and guests were not in keeping with the safe and friendly atmosphere of the community social club.

“We do appreciate your letter of apology but feel this does not excuse the behaviour endured by the members and staff. The committee has unanimously decided to revoke your membership of you and your wife. Your two guests are barred from the premises indefinitely.”

In his letter to the club, Cllr Shaw wrote: I wish to apologise for my drunken behaviour in the club. I had far too much to drink and was acting out of character. I hope this letter of apology will make some amends for my behaviour.

“It takes a big man to accept his mistakes and to apologise for my behaviour. I will ensure this will not happen again.”

After the incident Cllr Shaw said to the Herald: “I am sincerely sorry for this incident. I am under immense personal pressure at the moment and being only human, I made a mistake. I have learnt so much as a councillor this last 12 months and I am making a lot of progress that I do not want to resign and will endeavour to work even harder to correct this error.”

A spokesman for Skipton Town Council said while it had not received any official complaint in regard to the incident, in such an event it would report council member conduct to the monitoring officer at Craven District Council.

They added that the town council did not have powers to investigate or place any sanctions on its members - such as removing them from official duties they had been voted to.

However, council members could vote for Cllr Shaw not to be elevated to mayor when the current Skipton mayor's term of office comes to an end in May 2022.

Unless he resigns, Cllr Shaw will also be able to continue as a town councillor until the next local elections in 2023.