Express & Star

Date requests among 'unsettling' messages sent to female Dudley councillors

Dudley Council is investigating incidents where female councillors have been subjected to sinister and unwanted approaches.

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Members of the authority from both Labour and the Conservatives claim they have recently received seemingly harmless compliments about their work.

When they responded saying ‘thank you’ they said they got further messages asking them out on a date or saying how nice they are.

Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, confirmed officials have been made aware of the incidents and added: “It’s a little bit unsettling to go from being told you are doing a good job to ‘can we go out for a drink or a date’.

“It has been reported to the chief executive and monitoring officer who have reported it to the police.

“If you are a female councillor it can be quite unnerving not knowing who the person is, if it’s a fake ID or a fake email account.