A councillor has been censured after a watchdog committee decided he tried to use confidential information to discredit colleagues.

Liberal Democrat Stephen Murphy, who represents Hailsham, has been found guilty by East Sussex County Council's standards committee.

It follows a complaint by fellow Hailsham councillors Nick and Madeline Ellwood.

Coun Murphy is a Parliamentary hopeful for Wealden and party bosses will meet on Wednesday to decide his future.

In a report to councillors, monitoring officer Helmut Cartwright said Coun Murphy had betrayed strict confidence in using the information for personal advantage.

He said: "As a councillor or a committee or sub-committee member, you necessarily acquire much information that has not yet been made public and is still confidential. It is a betrayal of trust to breach such confidence.

"You should never disclose or use confidential information for the personal advantage of yourself or anyone known to you, or to the disadvantage or the discredit of the council or anyone else.

"The fact is that the confidentiality surrounding the information received was broken by disclosure.

"That the disclosure took place in what might be regarded as a less than public forum does not affect the nature of the breach of the standards of conduct expected of councillors."

He added: "Given the nature of the complaint, the matters have been dealt with and the information which the committee has considered will remain confidential and not be made public."

The committee agreed to censure Coun Murphy, who has received written confirmation of its decision. It was the most lenient of three sanctions available to the committee.

In a statement, the Ellwoods said: "Our complaint has been fully justified by the findings of the standards committee.

"This whole matter has caused extreme concern and stress and we will have to find how we move forward. We hope that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by any council now or in the future.

"When someone stands for public office they should be above reproach at all times."

Coun Murphy, a consultant engineer, is chairman of Hailsham Regeneration Partnership and was a leading light behind gaining £5.2 million Government grants for community projects.

He said: "I am naturally disappointed by the decision but as there is no right to appeal I have just got to accept it."