A UNION official has revealed three complaints about sexual harassment and bullying at Bolton Town Hall are being investigated.

But Glyn Platt, regional Unison officer, said he did not believe that there was a bullying or sexual intimidation culture in the town hall.

Although he admitted his union was concerned about the amount of time claims can take to be resolved and is planning talks with Bolton Council leaders to speed up the process.

Mr Platt said: "We do have some concerns about the amount of time some cases take to go through, when it goes into months it makes things very difficult for the complainant who is still in the workplace. We are planning to meet the council to discuss resolving this.

"If there is a hidden culture of harassment at the town hall we want to know about it and we encourage members to come to us."

Conservative councillor Paul Brierley brought the issue to the fore with allegations at a council meeting that sexual harassment and bullying was rife at the town hall.

Labour councillors angrily denied the claims and invited Mr Brierley to meet Rosa Kay, executive member for human resources, and the Chief Executive's office in private to discuss his concerns.

Mr Brierley told the Bolton Evening News that he is planning to take up the offer.

He said: "It is what I have wanted all along, just to bring this out into the open for the sake of the women working at the town hall.

"I have nothing against any of the councillors and I believe they are just not aware of what is going on."

Cllr Brierley says he has a dossier of 12 current and former-employees claiming they have suffered harassment in the last two years and documentary evidence to support five of those.

Cllr Norman Critchley, leader of the Conservative party, said he supported an investigation into the claims.

He added: "I am concerned about any allegations and I hope that everything will be resolved as quickly as possible. I am confident that an investigation will take place."

Assistant chief executive David Winstanley said: "We have appropriate policies in place and if matters are brought to our attention we will deal with them."

A 20-year-old clerical worker, who has worked at the town hall for a year, told the Bolton Evening News yesterday she was "shocked" to hear about the allegations.

She said: "I haven't heard of any cases and I certainly haven't been subjected to any form of harassment or bullying."