AN investigation has been launched into comments made by West Somerset District Council tourism officer Tim King in a letter to consultants dealing with a possible merger with North Devon to market the area.
An official complaint has been received and the matter has been passed to his head of the department at the council Bruce Lang, which could lead to disciplinary action against Mr King.
It has been alleged that the background notes showed bias and that the words "a small, but vocal minority" used by Mr King to describe the opposition to the North Devon option was insulting.
Council officials this week rejected the claims that "background notes" sent to MPA were biased.
At Monday's cabinet meeting, chief executive Tim Howes said: "I should make it clear that the consultant assessed the options against the impartial selection criteria which included the council's objectives and the tourism industry objectives.
"As the chief executive with responsibility for all staff, I apologise unreservedly for any embarrassment caused by the use of the words 'a small, but vocal minority'."
Frank Coan of the consultants, Marketing Planning Associates (MPA), refuted any suggestion of bias in their work or being influenced by a brief or dealings with council officers.
"We would like to make it absolutely clear that we have adopted a totally objective and independent view of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed options, on the basis of reports and our wider understanding of the tourism market place in Britain," he said.
After considering MPA's report, the cabinet recommended that the North Devon and Torridge merger should be given the green light. The final decision will be made at the next full council meeting on October 18.
MPA were appointed three weeks ago to evaluate independently the two marketing strategies and were requested by Mr Howes not to make any recommendations.
Their opinion was that there would not be a clash of brand image and there would be positive benefits if Exmoor and North Devon joined forces.
The report said that if a Greater Exmoor Company were created it would be left with limited access to public funds, become isolated and would not have as much marketing muscle as other areas.
Opponents to the North Devon option were outraged at the cost of the report to the taxpayer, around £2,000, and said Mr King's letter had informed MPA of the council's choice and had discoloured the subsequent report.
Greater Exmoor Tourism Working Party spokesman John Richards said the group was both "amazed and appalled" at the content of the letter.
He told the cabinet meeting: "Considering that the working party represented around 500 businesses - nearly all the employers within the tourism industry - this was not a small minority."
He said the working party represented two thirds of those in the tourism industry and the statement had been used to influence the outcome of the report, whichwhich had become a waste of taxpayers' money.
"Therefore, the working party puts to the cabinet that you must ignore this supposedly independent report and decide on the merits of the two proposals previously put to you," he said.
"The working party also requests an investigation into how such misleading information could have been put to the consultant, especially in the view of your own auditor's report."
Mr Richards said the working party had asked for a copy of the letter and documents from the council but that Mr Howes refused to release them until last week when the both sides met for talks.
The working party also questioned a statement in Mr King's letter to MPA which they said implied that the council wanted the lowest cost option rather than best value.
A link-up with North Devon now looks an almost certainty despite opposition by councillors voicing concerns over the impartiality of the whole process.
Cllr Simon Stokes said the letter from the tourism officer was bound to influence the consultants if it contained an element of bias.
"There was no reason to put in the covering letter because we have made no doubt about the feeling of the council and they then knew which way to jump," he said.
"Even though the expensive report was supposed to be even-handed, we could not manage to keep our sticky fingers off it."
On the merger he said: "What we are doing is like Britain saying to the French, 'We have not had a very good season this year so could you take over the tourism for us?'"
Cllr Christine Lawrence said that when she joined the debate 18 months ago, she backed the Greater Exmoor option but her opinion had since swayed towards the North Devon merger.
"This has been a bad season and in fact one of the worst for as long as anyone can remember," she said. "We need to diversify and there are advantages with going with North Devon.
"We need to demand a high profile and make sure we are up and running with websites because the old days are over."
Cllr David Banks said a decision to merge with North Devon had been made long before councillors were given chance for debate: "The matter first went before the economic regeneration policy review group and they said not to merge and the feeling at the tourism summits was to stay independent and develop an Exmoor partnership.
"People view this council as an out of control juggernaut, driven by a blind driver who cannot read the road signs, and the way some of the councillors have been taking they ought to be on Torridge district council."
l In a fresh twist this week, senior businessmen and tourism providers formed an action group to lobby councillors to opt for the Greater Exmoor option.
The group includes chairman of tea and coffee merchants D J Miles and Co Derek Miles, Butlins resort director Bryan Leaker, chairman of the Wellington group Barry Richards, senior partner for estate agents Chanin and Thomas John Addicott, chairman of the Licenced Victuallers Association Ted Alford and Minehead chamber of commerce chairman Mike Padgett.
Mr Padgett said: "I think Mr King has totally compromised the report because there was a report beforehand which firmly came down on the side that we should stay as we are.
"Mr King should now fall on his sword."
And Mr Leaker said he considered Mr King's comment as a "personal insult".
"Butlins actually represent 52 per cent of the market so I am in fact the majority," he said.
Mr King has said a new joint tourism marketing body would bring massive economic benefits to West Somerset including helping to secure £267,000 in European funding.
He said it would have up to ten staff and a "fairly heavy" budget of over £800,000.
Mr King was unavailable to comment on the criticisms levelled at him.