HEREFORDSHIRE'S parish council 'rebellion' is over, its last stand ending in defeat - but not indignity.

Dr John Bishop went down fighting, describing the process that put him before an adjudication panel - the body that passes judgement on rogue town and parish councillors - as 'shoddy, disreputable and un-British'.

But if the panel sitting at Hereford's Green Dragon Hotel had no doubt about the sincerity of Dr Bishop's views - expressed in his closing statement - it decided that his principles broke the rules, as the rules applied.

So for not signing up in full to a code of conduct imposed on grass roots government just over a year ago, and failing to register interests as required by that code, he got a two year ban from public office.

Dr Bishop had asked the panel for a 'maximum' five-year ban.

At 78 Dr Bishop no longer serves on Brockhampton with Much Fawley Parish Council - one of the smallest in Britain. He stepped down at the last local government election with no intention of putting up again for one of the council's five seats.

It was Dr Bishop's case that interests he was required to register over the running of the parish hall committee were so obvious in such a compact community that their register was not necessary.

Dr Bishop set this stance alongside his overall opposition to the code's requirement for councillors to publicly register their interests and those of their families.

David Abrahams, for the Standards Board for England, the body set up to police parish councils, told the panel that Dr Bishop's 'honesty and integrity' were not in question.

But if Dr Bishop believed the rules did not apply to him because of what he thought of them, he was wrong, said Mr Abrahams.

In this context the case against Dr Bishop was about 'preserving public confidence' over arrangements that could have given rise to suspicion, he said.

"(Dr Bishop) could have resigned over his disapproval, he could have worked within the law and made his protest. It was not acceptable to say the code did not apply.

"He was putting himself above the law."

In evidence, Dr Bishop spoke of opposing the code, its creation and its application as his 'duty as a citizen'.

l Former Brockhampton with Much Fawley parish councillor Jeremy Clay faced a similar set of 'charges' before the panel on the day. Mr Clay did not attend the hearing and offered no representational or written defence to the panel. He, too, received a two-year ban from public office.

Story caused a national stir

HEREFORDSHIRE'S 'rebel' parish councillors caused a national stir with their stand against the code of conduct.

The Hereford Times has reported on this most civil of wars from the off.

Now the public face of the fight says 'it's over'.

Rodney Smallwood led his then 10 Kingsland parish councillors into the fray and got a one-year ban from public office for his trouble - a process he likened to being beaten by a rubber-stamp

Other councillors who either stood alone or alongside those of a like-mind across the county have been given bans of between one week and a year.

Few intended to seek public office again; those that did at the last round of local elections have now signed up to the code.

Mr Smallwood did not put himself up for election. But if he concedes defeat over the rebellion, he would consider a re-run should circumstances allow.

A High Court challenge to the code by a parish councillor in another part of the country may - if won - allow 'rebels' who ruled themselves out of office to stand again.

"In practical terms, though, our stand is over. And there's a bitter aftertaste," said Mr Smallwood.

The 'rebellion' was pursued on a point of principle - Whitehall's timing was wrong in imposing the code last year as most councillors neared the end of elected terms.

That, said Mr Smallwood at the time, was tantamount to altering a contract once it had been signed.

Many also believed - like Dr Bishop - that the requirement to publicly register their interests and those of their families was draconian when applied to parish authority.

Dr Bishop had his say, but parish councils with their 'bins and benches' budgets have entered a new era. That new era seems here to stay.