At 10am yesterday, leader of the council John Peach asked for the story to be pulled from the front page.

In an e-mail to Evening Telegraph editor Mark Edwards, the council made a "formal request to withdraw" the story.

It went on to say: "We believe that it would disadvantage him in terms of tonight's nomination and debate, and that it may manipulate the democratic process."

The ET refused the request on the basis that that was not the case.

Mr Edwards said: "I have never received such a request before and we were astonished when it arrived. We had spoken to Gul Nawaz, who had confirmed his nomination, and had commented on his previous conviction for benefit fraud and explained his position on the nomination.

"It was therefore a simple matter of public record that we reported the fact that he was due to be nominated. We were aware that the nomination had caused much debate among councillors and we felt the public had a right to know what was going on.

"I am still baffled as to why it was felt that running the story would manipulate the democratic process. We ran the story because there was no legal or ethical reason not to.

"The public has a right to know what is going on. It's not up to The ET to judge the suitability of the candidate, but it is up to us to let people know the facts."

Asked why he had taken such a step Mr Peach said he believed both sides – the council and The Evening Telegraph – needed to clarify certain aspects of the story prior to its publication.

He said: "I suggested that an Evening Telegraph reporter contact the council's press office to avoid trouble on both sides."

Cllr Peach said Cllr Nawaz was put forward as deputy mayor because he was "next in line" in terms of long service and no other long-serving councillor had wanted to take up the position of deputy mayor.

Asked if he understood why there were reservations about the appointment, Cllr Peach added: "I can understand those feelings, but there is a lot more to this story than meets the eye."