A Sandwell councillor who had been charged with a hate crime after making a 'Nazi' comment has been cleared after police said no criminal offence had been identified.

A spokesperson confirmed Bob Piper will face no charges in relation to his jibe of ‘Sieg Heil’ made to a political opponent in July last year.

The news comes after the Crown Prosecution Service withdraw a charge of racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress against the Abbey ward councillor last month.

At the time it was incorrectly stated that Cllr Piper had accepted a caution following a CPS recommendation.

But this week police have confirmed no further charges are to be brought and no caution has been issued.

When contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Bob Piper welcomed the decision but said he had not been formally informed by the force.

In January, he had described the charge as ridiculous, saying: “This was a total waste of public money and police effort in the the first place and they should concentrate on getting out there and dealing with real criminals instead of wasting their time with this utter nonsense.”