The clerk of Onchan Commissioners, who was dismissed without notice this week, is calling for a public inquiry into how the local authority operates and treats its staff.

Michael Morrison says he has still not been told the reasons why he was sacked.

And he claims he has been offered a five-figure sum to buy his silence and say he has resigned.

In the meantime, he is on sick leave and says he will take legal action over alleged breach of contract.

He said: ’I’ve been offered a substantial sum to say I’ve resigned, They are trying to buy my silence. But I’m not going to take the money. I have not resigned - I have been dismissed without notice.’

Mr Morrison was sacked following an emergency board meeting on Monday at an Athol Street law firm, a meeting called while he was off on leave and at which no officers were present.

He said he was then notified of his dismissal by Commissioners chairman Anthony Allen in the presence of commissioners Derek Crellin and Chris Quirk and deputy clerk Tim Craig.

Mr Morrison said he was advised he would be provided with written notification of the reasons for dismissal within 24 hours but has still not received that.

He said his best guess as to why he has been dismissed came following a five-hour board meeting on August 14 when he claims there was hostility towards officers and staff from some board members.

’It was considered by some of those present to be bullying and aggressive in nature and totally unwarranted,’ he said.

He said the next day he wrote to the chairman urging him to address the ’poor behaviour’ of some members and to repeat his advice he had given ’many times in private’ that board members were acting contrary to their standing orders and Code of Conduct.

He advised that internal audit should be engaged to review the actions of the board and that governance issues should be referred to the Department of Infrastructure as regulator.

Within days of sending that letter, the extraordinary board meeting was called.

Mr Morrison claimed: ’The department has been aware of on-going difficulties with regard to maintaining good governance but has so far failed to take any action.’

Among his other allegations is that the board over-rode the outcome of tender processes against officer advice, and complaints brought by relations of board members were asked to be prioritised.

He is now calling on the DoI to use its powers to call for a public inquiry to review the actions of the board and whether they have acted appropriately.

’Only such an inquiry will restore the confidence in the board of Onchan District Commissioners and ensure the next person who takes on the challenge of clerk has proper protection and ensure that this type of incident does not happen again,’ he said.

Mr Morrison, who has been in post less than a year, accepted that the authority had acted within its legal powers to dismiss him. But he described his treatment as ’unfair’.

He insisted there had been no formal complaint about his ways of working and there had never been any allegations of fraud or poor performance.

During his time as clerk he said there had been good progress towards taking 10 per cent out of the £1m staff costs, takings at Onchan Park had doubled and commercial property was now fully occupied.

DoI chief executive Nick Black said: ’I can advise that I am not aware of any formal complaints being raised in respect of issues of internal governance.’