A BUSINESSMAN elected to Scottish Borders Council in 2012 is under investigation by a national watchdog.

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland is probing a complaint over the conduct of Councillor Alastair Cranston who lives at Netheraw near Lilliesleaf and represents the Hawick and Denholm ward for the SNP.

The complaint is understood to centre on an allegation that Mr Cranston, 64, breached the councillors’ code of conduct and may have used his role as an elected member to promote his own business interests.

“I can confirm I am the subject of an investigation by the Commissioner and that this will not be completed until September,” said Mr Cranston, a former Scottish rugby internationalist.

“Since receiving official notice of the complaint against me, I have discussed the matter with the SNP group on the council.

“I have also been advised not to comment publicly until the end of this process.

“All I can say at present is that I am innocent until proven otherwise.” He added that he did not know who had made the complaint, although the Border Telegraph understands it came from a fellow councillor.

A spokesperson for the Edinburgh-based Commissioner told us: “I can confirm we have received a complaint against Councillor Alastair Cranston…and that the complaint relates to non-declaration of interests.

“It is not our practice to comment further until the Commissioner concludes any enquiries/investigations.” In his SBC register of interests, Mr Cranston is listed as being self-employed and the director of two companies – Economic Recycling Services CIC (Community Interest Company) and Smeddum Ltd.

The former enterprise is involved in community and business waste recycling including the provision of “local anaerobic digestion [AD] biogas facilities”.

The website of the Scottish Environmental Technology Network reveals it is has supported Smeddum Ltd in carrying out research and development in the preservation and transport of food waste to AD biogas plants.

Mr Cranston is also listed as having an agency contract with a firm called AgriKomp UK Ltd which specialises in “energy generation from biogas”.

Back in March, a local newspaper made reference to an AD biogas plant being possibly developed in Burnfoot in Hawick, claiming it had been “mooted” by Mr Cranston.

It is not the first time that Mr Cranston has been the subject of an investigation by the Commissioner.

Last year, a complainant alleged that he and four other SNP councillors – along with a Lib Dem – had, as members of SBC’s planning committee, been “influenced by party political considerations” in supporting a wind farm application in Berwickshire.

After a lengthy probe, the Commissioner exonerated the six, determining there was no evidence to support the complaint. Mr Cranston ceased to be a member of the planning committee in November last year when its membership was cut from 13 to nine.

A graduate of Edinburgh University, Mr Cranston won 19 caps for Scotland between 1976 and 1981. From 2002 to 2005, he was chief executive of the Galashiels-based Borders Reivers professional rugby team.