Nottingham City Council's director of communications, Stephen Barker , will step down later this month, amid allegations the council had co-ordinated publicity campaigns with the Labour Party.

According to internal documents obtained by local councillor Tony Sutton using Freedom of Information powers, Mr Barker shared a communications grid plan for campaign messages used in the run up to 2007 elections. One of the grids detailed the city council's communications schedule and the other – marked 'document for StephenB' in the computer file pathway - that of the Nottingham Labour Party.