A Douglas councillor who was forced to stand down because he is not a registered voter could have kept his position, according to the government.

John Joughin, who has been a councillor since April 2012, was removed after the council took legal advice.

But now the Department of Infrastructure, which oversees local authorities, says a 'pragmatic and practical approach' to the Local Elections Act should be taken.

The department says: 'Whilst it is a matter for individual local authorities to determine, the Department believes that there is no clear and unambiguous requirement to remove members who are not on the Electoral Register.'

There's to be a review of the legislation govering local authority elections ahead of the next elections in April 2016.

The department states: 'This will clarify the intent of the legislation that in order to be eligible to stand in a local authority election a candidate must be on the Electoral Register on nomination day.

'The Department would hope that pending the revised legislation, local authorities would take a pragmatic and practical approach to the interpretation of the relevant legislation.'

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