A TOWN councillor who introduced a motion to request that video recordings of town council meetings should not be edited and presented out of context said it was not an attempt at censorship.

The motion, introduced at the full Ledbury Town Council meeting of Thursday, December 8, was thrown out after one councillor, Bob Barnes, said the motion was "really talking about censorship".

Other councillors said any request to not to edit video recordings out of context would be unworkable.

But Cllr Andrew Harrison, who introduced the motion asking members of the public to refrain from "editing an image in a way that may ridicule, or show lack of respect, towards those being filmed for recorded", said this week: "It's about asking. It's certainly not about censorship. I am not saying people should be prevented from recording, editing or posting."

But Cllr Harrison fears that people will not speak up at council meetings "if they think their words will be edited in a way that they will be ridiculed".

He added that if the town council had supported his motion it could have strengthened any request to remove a post from social media.

But he added: "Obviously, you can't force people to do it."

Cllr Harrison, speaking earlier at the meeting, said footage of his partner, the former town councillor, Richard Hadley, taken at another meeting, had been later edited and posted on social media by Kenny Mitchell, the husband of Ledbury Town Council clerk, Karen Mitchell.