Last week, we revealed council leader Martin Rooney says he submitted a written complaint to the authority’s chief executive, Joyce White, about Councillor George Black’s alleged treatment of SNP Group leader Jonathan McColl — and called on Councillor Black to make it public.

Posting on the West Dunbartonshire Councillors Opposition Facebook Page, which is administered by Cllr Black, the council leader wrote: “If you are to have any credibility at all you would publish in full the content of the letter I wrote to the chief executive about your treatment of Jonathan McColl rather than trying to further distort the facts by bringing in an email which has absolutely nothing to do with you being found guilty of inappropriate behaviour towards two members of staff.” He added: “George, when are you going to publish the full contents of my email or letter about the attacks on Jonathan McColl? It’s a man or mouse moment for you.” However, when we raised the matter with Cllr McColl he said he is still at a loss to explain either the contents of the email or even what Cllr Rooney is referring to in his Facebook posts.

Cllr McColl says that when he contacted Ms White she too denied any knowledge of the email and he says his attempts to speak directly to Cllr Rooney have so far come to nothing.

He added: “I have no idea what Martin is talking about; I certainly don’t feel I’ve been bullied or mistreated in any way.

“George and I have had our differences, but we agree more often than not and frankly, as adults, we’re able to have a robust exchange of opinions and criticisms without going off in a huff with each other afterwards.

“I think I’m on safe ground speaking for both of us when I say that it’s been a long while since we’ve ran ‘tae oor mammies because a big boy called us names’.” The row comes amid ongoing accusations of bullying levelled against Cllr Black in the wake of his suspension from attending committee meetings after having been found to have breached the Councillors Code of Conduct.

Cllr Black and Cllr Jim Bollan were reported to the Standards Commission for Scotland (SCS) by Joyce White and a subsequent hearing found both councillors had breached the Councillors Code of Conduct on “a number of occasions”.

When we asked Cllr Black if he was aware of the latest email referred to by Cllr Rooney he said: “I have no knowledge of any letter to Joyce White concerning Councillor McColl. The only letter from Rooney to Mrs White that I have is the one he sent asking or telling her to report me to the Standards Commission.” He described allegations of bullying as “deflective tactics” and “the worst kind of bullying and propaganda”.

The online spat comes after the Post published the contents of an email written by Cllr Rooney expressing concerns about the appointment of Ms White back in September 2011.

We asked Cllr Rooney if he was prepared to publish the contents of the email he refers to on Facebook but he declined the opportunity, instead accusing his rivals of “attention-seeking”.

He said: “Cllr Black has been found guilty of publicly criticising officers of the council and Cllr Bollan has been found guilty of failing to declare a register able interest of a period of four years. Both officers have been sanctioned accordingly with Cllr Black being sanctioned by the Standards Commission for two months and Cllr Bollan for a period of nine months.

“In total Cllr Bollan will have spent two years of his political career under sanction. It is my sincere hope that these councillors have now learned the lesson that they must comply with the Councillors Code of Conduct which they agreed as a condition of acceptance of public office.

“West Dunbartonshire Council has many opportunities to grasp and challenges to overcome and as leader I am determined to focus the council’s attention on these rather than the attention-seeking antics of two disgraced councillors who have a minor role in the decision making within the council.”