A founding member of Congleton Museum's board of trustees has been told to resign amid 'serious concerns' over his behaviour.

An extraordinary general meeting of Congleton Museum members was held at the Town Hall on Monday, December 1.

During this meeting, councillor Kay Wesley put forward a motion calling for the resignation of Ian Doughty, the former chair of the museum's trust.

It follows allegations of bullying and harassment, failing to comply with an employee grievance outcome, breaking employment law, breaching data protection, spending museum funds without authorisation, sending defamatory emails and changing the museum's locks, preventing normal operations.

The motion passed with 93 votes in favour, three against and four abstentions.

The Town Hall was packed for Monday's extraordinary meeting (Credit: Congleton Museum)

.The meeting, which was apparently called originally by Mr Doughty but not attended by him, was chaired by museum co-chair Anne Gubbins.

She invited each of the seven trustees and the volunteer treasurer to account for their recent actions.

Mrs Gubbins explained that the museum's Articles of Association require trustees to act collectively; therefore, Mr Doughty's recent claims, that all other trustees were 'suspended' and had no right to use museum funds, had no legal basis.

Trustees had sought help from Museum Development North, which advised an independent governance review. Governance expert Jane Walton recommended that trustees ask Mr Doughty to resign and ensure he is not put forward for the board at the AGM, and to take legal advice. It also advised strengthening policies and procedures to prevent similar future disruptions.

Specialist arts and museums lawyer Sean Egan concluded that Mr Doughty was knowingly breaching his duties as a charity trustee, and recommended notifying the Charity Commission, which can issue official warnings with legal effect.

Mr Doughty was removed as chair of the board following 'serious misconduct' (Credit: Nub News)

At the end of the meeting, members were tasked with voting on two motions which had been scheduled.

The first was a vote of no confidence in the seven trustees proposed by Mr Doughty.

However, with no proposer present and no supporting paper, the matter was set aside.

The second motion was the aforementioned proposal from councillor Wesley calling for Mr Doughty's resignation.

It is understood Mr Doughty held his own meeting in the museum at the same time as the extraordinary meeting in the Town Hall.

However, trustees say this meeting was 'not constitutional' as trustees were not invited, it was not chaired by the co-chairs and most members were unaware it was taking place.

As such, they say the meeting has no effect on the operation of the museum.

Mr Doughty has been contacted for his response.