A BLACKBURN with Darwen Borough Council director was ordered to delete a series of tweets criticising the policy of another department.

Adult services and prevention boss Sayyed Osman last week expressed concern about being unable to join his teenage son for a gym session at Blackburn Sports and Leisure Centre on his official BwDBC Twitter account.

When the Lancashire Telegraph inquired about the tweet, his Town Hall bosses order ed him to take the posts down immediately

Lancashire Telegraph:

Liberal Democrat Cllr Roy Davies said the decision ‘smacks of censorship’ but Tory group leader Cllr John Slater backed the move and criticised the director’s use of social media.

Mr Osman’s original tweet, complete with a sad-faced emoji, said: “Saddened not to be able to take my teenage son with me to the gym.

“Rules about teen gym’s very restricted instructor times to the point of being pointless. Surely parent accompanied. supervision for teens? Family friendly and inclusive.”

Further critical tweets followed. All were deleted swiftly after this newspaper spoke to leisure boss Cllr Damian Talbot and the authority’s media office on Tuesday.

Council gyms set aside special times for under-18s only gym sessions which are different from adult ones. Over-18s are not allowed into under 18-sessions and vice-versa. The restrictions are for safeguarding reasons and the under-18 sessions are staffed with fitness instructors trained to ensure exercises are suitable for young people.

Cllr Davies said: “I think perhaps Mr Osman was being unwise but I appreciate his honesty. It smacks of censorship to order him to delete the tweets.”

Harry Catherall, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s chief executive, said: “We encourage open debate and feedback as a council.

“Like many employers we have a social media policy and we expect high standards.

“We are satisfied his intention was purely to improve services and his observations will be considered as part of our continuous improvement efforts.”

Cllr Talbot said: “People are often unaware of the visibility of their posts on social media.

“They are not the same as a private conversation.

“Mr Osman should have been aware of this as a very senior and experienced officer.”

Cllr Slater said: “As a senior and experienced officer Mr Osman should have know better than to criticise the council, which pays his wages, on social media.

“There are appropriate internal channels which are better to influence policy. Mr Catherall was right.”

Mr Osman was unavailable for comment despite several attempts to contact him.