A TORY candidate standing in next month's local elections has a spent criminal conviction for gross indecency.

The Rev Neil Cocking, 58, an ordained Anglican priest, is standing for the Bradford on Avon north seat in the town and West Wiltshire District Council elections on May 3.

The former primary school headteacher, of Wine Street Terrace, Bradford on Avon, was found guilty of gross indecency when living in Wimbledon in 1991, after he was caught having sex with another man in sand dunes on the Norfolk coast the previous August. Mr Cocking, who no longer practises in the Church of England but plays the organ in St Thomas More Catholic Church in Bradford on Avon, was given a conditional discharge.

The conviction is spent' in law and Mr Cocking had no obligation to disclose it to local Conservative Party officials as it is too far in the past, although the officials said this week they knew nothing about it.

The conviction will not affect his eligibility to stand in the local election.

Mr Cocking currently runs a funeral director's service in Chelsea, west London.

He said: "This was an incident on a naturist beach some 17 years ago. A warden claimed he had seen inappropriate behaviour from a great distance through his binoculars. I vigorously contested the claim at the time but was convicted. It was a very different climate.

"I was given a conditional discharge which was spent after 12 months. This is not a disqualification to being a candidate and has no bearing on my ability to serve the local constituency."

When the Wiltshire Times contacted Mr Cocking, he insisted the case had been discharged and was of no relevance.

When told about Mr Cocking's conviction, the chairman of Chippenham Conservatives Association Carolyn Walker, who is responsible for all the candidates standing in Bradford on Avon, said: "I didn't know that. Thank you for letting me know. I'll make some inquiries."

Dirk Russell, Conservative election agent for south west Wilts and Salisbury areas, said: "The candidates will have been asked the question about whether they are eligible to stand.

"Usually the local party would know the candidates quite well and know their history.

"If there was anything odd we would have known.

"We are not under any obligation to ask about previous convictions."

The last day for withdrawal of candidates for the local elections was midday on Wednesday.