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A Merseyside councillor was told to write a letter of apology to a resident after being accused of using grossly offensive language on Facebook.

Cllr Seve Gomez-Aspron, 29, ended a conversation with a woman on the social network website by writing ‘See you next Tuesday’.

But, the expression was abbreviated into text speak, using ‘C’ and ‘U’ for the first two words and a capital ‘N’ at the beginning of the word ‘next’.

St Helens Council’s Standards Committee was told the expression is widely known to be a euphemism for a derogatory four-letter word.

Cllr Gomez-Aspron denied that the he knew the expression could be offensive.

A screenshot of the conversation was circulated to the committee, which met to consider whether the Labour councillor had breached the authority’s code of conduct.

The online conversation, which took place in September last year, started when the complainant, a 19-year-old woman, approached Cllr Gomez-Aspron for details of a dog-chipping event, which he had signposted on the Newton Network page.

Cllr Gomez-Aspron, cabinet member for environment and neighbourhoods, signed off by suggesting she attended his next surgery, which are held on the second Tuesday of each month, and then used the controversial phrase.

The complainant said she told him he should not use that sort of language and alleged he replied by saying he could say what he liked on Facebook, as it had nothing to do with his work or role as a councillor.

During the meeting, Cllr Gomez-Aspron, a chemistry teacher, denied knowing that spelling “‘See you next Tuesday’” in the way that he had could mean anything offensive.

The councillor, who in 2011 won a share of £100,000 on the game show Million Pound Drop, said: “I’m astounded that because I’m 29 it’s assumed I know the meaning of ‘See you next Tuesday’. It’s ageist.”

However, Cllr Marlene Quinn said: “I wouldn’t accept that Councillor Gomez-Aspron didn’t know the meaning of the words. I find this very hard to believe.”

After deliberating for almost an hour, committee chairman Cllr Joe Pearson said the panel had decided the councillor had used grossly offensive language and failed to treat a member of the public with respect.

He added: “We are all in agreement that Seve Gomez-Aspron was acting in his role as a councillor and we determine that he breached the code of conduct.”

Cllr Gomez-Aspron was then told to write a letter of apology for the incident to the complainant.