BURY Council’s chief executive has resigned on the eve of a disciplinary hearing about his handling of child protection procedures.

Mike Owen was due to appear before the disciplinary panel on Monday along with two other senior council officers, but quit with effect from midnight on Sunday.

Mr Owen and the council’s director of children’s services, Mark Carriline, were suspended in February.

They were found to have delayed carrying out child protection procedures after a councillor was accused of making indecent images of children.

Cllr Simon Carter subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a three-year community order.

Following the disciplinary panel meeting on Monday and Tuesday it was recommended that Mr Carriline should be sacked.

Monitoring officer Jayne Hammond was also suspended over legal advice she had given about the matter.

A council spokeswoman stated that the allegations against her had been "resolved by the panel".

The panel hearing followed an independent external investigation undertaken by Charles Bourne QC.

The spokeswoman said the council had no choice but to accept Mr Owen’s resignation.

"The panel noted with concern the findings of the independent investigation reports regarding Mr Owen’s role in the historic child safeguarding issue under review, but noted that as Mr Owen was no longer an employee of the council it had no jurisdiction to reach any conclusions on the matter," she said.

However, the panel believed action should be taken against Mr Carriline.

"The panel considered the recommendations of the report and concluded that the officer was guilty of serious misconduct," added the spokeswoman.

"Further, the officer had failed to maintain trust and confidence of the council and accordingly the panel recommends to the full council that the officer is dismissed from the service without notice."

However, the hearing also concluded: "Mrs Hammond did not have direct responsibility for child safeguarding, the independent report did not find that Mrs Hammond’s legal advice had been wrong, and there was no evidence of ulterior motive at work."

The full council will now consider whether to act on the panel’s recommendations.

Pat Jones-Greenhalgh will continue as interim chief executive until a new appointment can be made.

Following the hearing, Bury Council leader Rishi Shori said: "No payment has been made to Mr Owen on his departure except that relating to outstanding holidays.

"Mike has been an officer of the council for many years and despite the circumstances of his departure, we wish him well for the future.

"The historic child protection issue which led to the review and subsequent disciplinary investigation took place before I became the leader and I will ensure that lessons are learned by the council.

"Where it has fallen below the standards that the public rightly expect, improvements will be made."

Earlier this year, a review found that Mr Owen, Mr Carriline and Mrs Hammond delayed implementing safeguarding procedures when allegations about Mr Carter, who was then a Labour councillor representing Tottington, first came to light.

He was accused of making indecent child images in spring 2015 and was convicted the following September.

The three officers had waited up to five weeks to carry out a string of child protection measures that should have been implemented within 24 or 48 hours of the allegations surfacing, the investigation found.