MORE social media training is to be given to BCP Council councillors due to the number falling foul of content they have shared online.

Considering a report into allegations Labour councillor Lisa Lewis shared an anti-Semitic article on Twitter, its standards committee criticised the “poor” turnout at previous sessions.

And it has now recommended that everyone take part in future training to prevent more posting offensive content on social media.

Three complaints were made about Cllr Lewis after she retweeted a Dorset Eye article which said Countdown star Rachel Riley was a "fascist" and "Israeli state terrorist sympathiser".

Due to the seriousness of the issue an independent investigation, led by Tim Darsley, was commissioned by the council.

He found that although Cllr Lewis’ Twitter account biography listed her as a councillor, she was acting in a personal capacity at the time and therefore had not breached the council’s code of conduct.

His findings were accepted by the council’s standards committee at its meeting on Tuesday but it said councillors should be given more training on social media use.

“We have a number of new councillors, some who may not have even thought about Twitter or Facebook,” Councillor Marcus Andrews said. “I think it’s something which all councillors need to be more aware of.”

“Cllr Lewis has apologised and recognised she made a mistake – that’s something to be commended and we now need to move on.”

Previous training sessions for councillors have been organised by the council but had been “poorly attended”, according to committee chairman councillor Colin Bungey.

It was agreed that new sessions would be arranged with all members of the council encouraged to take part.

Councillor Andy Jones said: “Due to the seriousness of this, I think the training should be mandatory.

“We really need to make sure members are 100 per cent clear on what they can or can’t do in this area.”

Social media posts or comments have featured in several of the complaints against councillors that have been lodged since the council was formed last year.

Conservative councillor Beverley Dunlop is also the subject of an ongoing independent investigation following allegations she posted Islamophobic content on Facebook.

Council monitoring officer, Tanya Coulter, said she hoped a report would be published within the next month.