NORTH Wiltshire District Council has said there is no ongoing investigation into allegations made in an anonymous letter that staff were being bullied.

The letters were sent to Coun Carole O'Gorman and district council chairman Coun Dianne Moore, and another anonymous letter was sent to the press, claiming bullying was a serious problem and the issue was not being tackled.

The letters claimed staff were regularly subjected to verbal abuse, which was causing illness.

The letters sent to council members, which alleged nine or ten staff in the Corporate Services department were the victims, were investigated and specific references were checked out and found to be untrue.

Chief executive Bob Marshall said yesterday there was no investigation going on in the Corporate Services department or any other department.

"When the councillors received the letters they brought them straight in because it is a management matter and not a councillor matter," he said. "We had a look at them, and there was some factual matter about things having been reported to certain individuals.

"But we checked up with these individuals and they had no idea what we were talking about."

Mr Marshall urged anyone with concerns about bullying to come forward and report it, and he said the union had also told members to report to them any complaints.

He said: "I am extremely concerned that someone would take such a misguided route to report such a matter.

"The council has a very open culture and a well published Grievance Procedure and Harassment Code of Practice, which gives every individual the right to raise grievances in the council."