A senior council officer has been ordered to apologise after complaints about his conduct at a meeting.

Councillors claimed Swale’s outgoing director of regeneration Pete Raine breached a code governing how officers should act after he said elected members had been “sad and short sighted” about Kent Science Park’s expansion plans.

His remarks sparked a mini walkout at a Local Engagement Forum in Sittingbourne last month.

Independent Cllr Monique Bonney and Ukip leader Cllr Mike Baldock were among those who headed for the exit, Cllr Bonney saying she did not want to stay to be insulted.

A complaint against Mr Raine, who retires this week, was investigated by Swale’s chief executive Abdool Kara who last week concluded there had been a breach of the code.

He found that although there had been no swearing and he had not been rude, some of what happened had not been “appropriate in a public forum”.

A council spokesman said: “On this basis it is considered that the Officer Code of Conduct has been breached in the sense that Mr Raine’s actions could reasonably be regarded as being discourteous to those councillors towards whom it was clearly directed.

“As such the report will be placed on Mr Raine’s personnel file for six months. He is also being asked to write a note of apology to the councillors concerned given that they were clearly upset by his actions.”

Cllr Bonney, who made the complaint, said: “In eight years of being a councillor I’ve never before witnessed such an outburst, and I’ve never before felt the need to walk out of a meeting or lodge a complaint against an officer.

“My complaint was fully justified and witnessed by those present at the meeting and as such I’m not surprised by the outcome.

“I sincerely hope that such an episode is never repeated by any officer of the council. Integrity and impartiality from officers is paramount at all times, especially when the subject matter relates to developers and their sites.”

Cllr Baldock added: “There had been an amicable and useful discussion between ourselves and KSP. It was just about drawing to an end when he decided to stand up and have his two-penneth.

“I think there’s a principle here that council officers should not behave in that way in public.

“What we do not want to see is officers who are leaving thinking they can have a two-month period of saying what they want.”