Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Election law probed over trader’s £100 voucher offer to vote down Peterhead Bid

Keith Bennett outside his glasses shop, now called Spex Shop. He is offering business owners who vote down the renewal of the Peterhead Bid £100 store credit.
Keith Bennett outside his glasses shop, now called Spex Shop. He is offering business owners who vote down the renewal of the Peterhead Bid £100 store credit.

Legal experts are thought to be rifling through law books over a Peterhead trader’s plans to bring down the town’s business improvement district.

Glasses salesman Keith Bennett has publicly offered any town centre business owner £100 in-store credit if they vote to wind up Rediscover Peterhead in the looming ballot on its future.

Sources now allege the attempt vote winner could be viewed as treating – an electoral offence dating back to the 19th Century.

First established in 2017, the business improvement district (Bid) has proven controversial among the traders who voted down the proposals – to be beaten by only 12 votes.

A fresh poll on whether to have a Bid must be held once every five years, since its executives have the power to impose levies on qualifying businesses.

Optician’s 100 reasons not to renew Peterhead bid

Mr Bennett, owner of Spex Shop in Marischal Street, previously told Aberdeen Journals he would not stump up the additional cost – worth around £300 to most of the town centre’s businesses.

And now he has taken to social media in an attempt to sway business owners who may be on the fence.

Writing on Facebook, he said: “If you’re angry or disappointed with this whole Bid thing or don’t feel you’ve gained anything from it despite being forced to pay money into it every year, then I will give you something for doing the right thing and voting to get rid of it at the next ballot.

“I will give £100 in credit at my shop to anyone who does the right thing and votes against another five-year term for Rediscover Peterhead Limited.

“If you don’t wear glasses you can sell or give away your £100, it is up to you.

“All you have to do is bring your postal vote to me already filled in saying you vote no and let me post it for you.”

He denied his generous offer amounted to “bribery” or “election fraud, pure and simple”, as it was branded by other residents.

Lawyers scour the books over suspected ‘treating’ in Peterhead Bid vote

But now, we can reveal local authority officials are understood to have approached Scotland’s Towns Partnership to ascertain if next year’s ballot is covered by electoral law.

It is unsure ground for those at Aberdeenshire Council tasked with overseeing the upcoming poll on the Bid’s future.

But a source told Aberdeen Journals that Scotland’s Town Partnership – effectively the ruling body for the country’s business improvement districts – was being sounded out on the legal nuance.

If the vote is covered by the Representation Of The People Act, his £100 offer might be viewed as treating.

The Electoral Commission defines the crime as – either before, during or after an election or referendum – directly or indirectly giving, providing or paying for any food, drink, entertainment or other provision in order to influence votes.

It comes as the local authority told Aberdeen Journals its legal officers were considering advice on remarks from Peterhead North And Rattray councillor Alan Buchan, accusing the council of using the Bid as an “extortion racket” – claims they said were “without foundation”.

A Rediscover Peterhead spokesman declined to comment on the Facebook post, viewing Mr Bennett’s remarks as the latest in a long run of criticism levelled at the organisation.

The dispensing optician was approached for comment.

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.