A LEADING Wirral councillor has been forced to apologise and pay thousands in costs and damages after posting a series of blogs describing a fellow councillor as "Mugabe-esque".

In his web blogs, Conservative Chris Blakeley accused Lib-Dem councillor Alan Taylor of behaving like Zimbabwe’s disgraced President Robert Mugabe.

Cllr Blakeley, who represents Moreton and Saughall Massie, said Cllr Taylor failed to declare drinks and a meal paid for by Wirral Partnership Homes at a housing conference in Harrogate.

He went on to allege that Cllr Taylor, who represents Bromborough and is chairman of the Housing and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee, was influenced by the hospitality he had received in a subsequent council vote which gave the housing association extra powers.

In one blog, Cllr Blakeley asked: "Is this all a bit Mugabe-esque? You decide!". In another blog, he wrote: "You can draw your own conclusions, I know what I think – Mugabe-esque!".

His comments followed an exchange between the two councillors at the Housing and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee, on September 25, 2008, which was chaired by Cllr Taylor.

Minutes of the meeting show during the meeting Cllr Blakeley declared his acceptance of the hospitality by WPH while at the housing conference last June.

The minutes say: "In response to a question from Cllr Blakeley, the Chair declared his personal interest, as he had also accepted hospitality from WPH at the Institute of Housing Conference.

"In response to a question from Cllr Blakeley as to whether the Chair had recorded the hospitality in the register of interests maintained by the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management, the Chair indicated that he had not.

"Consequently, in the interest of openness and transparency, Cllr Blakeley suggested to the Chair that he should take no part in the meeting." However, Cllr Taylor refused.

Following the blog entries by Cllr Blakeley, Cllr Taylor instructed Merseyside-based Kirwans Solicitors to act on his behalf, resulting in Cllr Blakeley apologising and agreeing to pay damages and costs totalling £7,000.

In his apology, which has been published on his website, Cllr Blakeley said he apologised "unreservedly for the hurt and injury caused" to Cllr Taylor as a result of the contents of the blog entries.

Cllr Blakeley said he now realised they "were wrong, ill- conceived and without any foundation and truthfulness and which I recognise have caused serious hurt and injury to his personal and political reputation".