THE police investigation into allegations of mis-conduct by the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council during the £100,000 contest to redesign George Square has been dropped.
Gordon Matheson's role in the process was to be probed by the Major Crimes and Public Protection division following a complaint from a member of the public last month.
The allegations centred on claims Mr Matheson directly interfered in the competition for a £15 million revamp and attempted to coerce council staff to do the same.
It has been claimed Mr Matheson attempted to interfere in a legally defined European procurement process.
However, it was decided there was no evidence of any criminality. Police Scotland confirmed it had sent an "information report" to the procurator-fiscal but added no further investigation would take place.
A spokeswoman said: "It will be one for the public standards commissioner."
The complaint to Police Scotland followed accusations made to the Public Standards Commissioner by the Royal Incorporation of Architects Scotland, including comments from the council's former lead architect and projects director.
Sources close to Mr Matheson have dismissed the complaint as politically motivated and continued to insist he would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for the council leader said: "We've always maintained this process was carried out properly and no-one attempted to inappropriately influence the decision of the competition judges.
"Gordon has always been confident any investigation would find in his favour. There was no public support for a radical redesign of George Square."
As well as the complaint to the public standards commissioner, there is also an investigation ongoing by the council's internal audit while spending watchdogs Audit Scotland are also examining aspects of the process.
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