Council seeking legal advice after leak

Police could be called in after documents detailing proposed developments were leaked following a "confidential members briefing", a council leader said.

Harborough District Council in Leicestershire said it was seeking legal advice to check if intellectual property (IP) had been broken as a result of its developing local plan being leaked.

The authority's leader, councillor Phil Knowles, told a full council meeting on Monday he was "really at a loss" as to why an elected member felt they had to share confidential information.

He said the leak had come "against all the advice from officers", while the information itself was due to be published just "four days later", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Knowles added: "I want to emphasize that we are looking to get the police involved."

A council spokesperson said: "The council is awaiting specialist legal advice regarding information that was shared on social media following a confidential members briefing and will consider its options once that advice is received."

Harborough's draft local plan will be discussed by the council on Monday, ahead of a planned public consultation.

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