A SENIOR Worcestershire councillor who sparked fury with controversial tweets about the burqa has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Councillor Ken Pollock said he was “very pleased” Worcestershire County Council’s chief legal officer Simon Mallinson had concluded that he hadn’t breached the authority’s code of conduct.

Cllr Pollock had previously backed Boris Johnson’s comments stating that women who wore the niqab looked like letterboxes before adding bank robbers would find the burqa a good disguise.

He initially posted a tweet on August 10 using the famous “I Am Spartacus” line from the Kirk Douglas movie as an act of solidarity with the former Foreign Secretary.

But his tweets resulted in a complaint and an investigation by the council.

After he was cleared, Councillor Pollock tweeted: “Very pleased to be cleared of any breach of our code of conduct by the County Council chief legal officer.

“Free speech includes the possibility of causing offence, even unintentionally. Islam is a creed, not a race, so to accuse me of racism is just ignorant. I'm not ignorant!

“Strange to elicit such vitriol from pointing out facts about strange apparel. Can we no longer laugh at each other's unusual costumes?

“Over many decades, I have worked with, and shared houses with, all sorts of races and creeds, and I do not recall any conflicts based on beliefs.”

A council spokesman said: "The complaint was considered by the Monitoring Officer at the County Council in line with the procedure for Assessment, Investigation and Hearing of Complaints.

"It was concluded that the comments did not amount to a breach of the Code. The matter has now closed."