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Welsh councillor Colin Elsbury has agreed to pay £3,000 in compensation to fellow councillor Eddie Talbot after posting an untrue comment on his Twitter page.

The tweet in question was posted in June 2009 when Elsbury and Talbot were among six councillors competing in the by-election for St Martin's ward in Caerphilly.

Elsbury, who won the election, subsequently tweeted: 'It's not in our nature to deride our opponents however Eddie Talbot had to be removed by the police from a polling station.'

Talbot's solicitor Nigel Jones highlighted that the allegation was not only false but insulting, leaving his client open to mockery. Although not present at the hearing, Elsbury defended his case declaring: 'This was a genuine case of mistaken identity'.

In an attempt to resolve the situation Elsbury had earlier offered to post an apology to his Twitter page. His proposal to settle by donating a sizeable amount to a charity was refused by Talbot. Elsbury must now also pick up the legal bills for the case.

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