AN inquiry into allegations of bullying and nepotism at Edinburgh

District Council must be conducted by a senior official from another

authority if it is to have any credibility, Conservatives claimed

yesterday.

Several senior council officials, a union official, and the Labour

leader of the administration, Councillor Lesley Hinds, are among people

named in a dossier compiled by an SNP activist, private investigator

Stewart Dredge.

Chief executive William Blyth has already ordered Mr John McMurdo,

head of legal services, to carry out an inquiry into the allegations.

But Councillor Daphne Sleigh, Tory leader on the council, yesterday

insisted such an internal inquiry was ''quite unacceptable to the

Conservative group''.

She wrote to Mr Blyth saying: ''For such an investigation to have

credibility to the outside world, it is essential that it should be seen

to be conducted impartially and at 'arms' length,' preferably by another

local authority.''

Councillor Sleigh is also demanding that the remit of the inquiry

should be broadened, with everyone named in Mr Dredge's document and the

author himself invited to co-operate with the investigation.

''Let me assure you that my insistence on an outside investigation

should not be interpreted as a criticism in any way as to the competence

or impartiality of our own officials,'' writes Councillor Sleigh.

There are several precedents for an external inquiry. An academic was

brought in to investigate the Western Isles Council's investment in the

collapsed BCCI bank.

A recent inquiry into allegations at the Convention of Scottish Local

Authorities was carried out by a senior official from an outside local

authority.

There was no response yesterday from the chief executive or the Labour

leader because they were on a trip to Munich, Edinburgh's twin city.