STAFF at Musselburgh Racecourse have backed Lothians Racing Syndicate chairman John Prideaux and described allegations by racing committee chairman Councillor John Caldwell as “disingenuous and contrary to the facts”.

In a letter published in this week’s Courier, all 12 core members of staff at the racecourse have given their support to Mr Prideaux, who they said was accused of “bullying and control freakery” by Mr Caldwell.

It comes as East Lothian Council’s Audit and Governance Committee this week called for an internal investigation into Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee, which has seen members become embroiled in a bitter war of words since it was revealed the racecourse had lost a prestigious Investors In People (IIP) award.

The committee agreed to include the racing committee in its internal audit in the coming year, with “scope and timing” to be agreed.

A spokesperson for the council said: “At the Audit and Governance Committee meeting there was a request that the audit plan should, in future, include coverage of the council’s associated committees (for example, enjoyleisure and Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee) to the extent that it is possible to so do.

“It was agreed that the 2015/16 audit plan would include one of the associated committees – Musselburgh Joint Racing Committee. The audit review will be carried out subject to the scope and timing of the audit being agreed with the MJRC.” IIP said it had taken the decision to strip the course of its award, which it had held for 12 years, as a direct result of the committee, which it described as “dysfunctional”.

The organisation singled out Mr Caldwell’s management style and refusal to accept responsibility for problems within the committee as a main area of concern.

But Mr Caldwell said that the report would be challenged, describing it as “fundamentally flawed with inaccurate and misleading information”.

Mr Prideaux, a member of the committee which is made up of four East Lothian councillors and three syndicate representatives, called for Mr Caldwell to resign his position, but Mr Caldwell launched an attack on Mr Prideaux claiming he was the one causing the problems.

Now staff have backed the syndicate boss as “100 per cent supportive” of all employees.

They said: “John Prideaux has been instrumental in the upward progression of the racecourse and has only ever been 100 per cent supportive of all employees, taking a strong interest in individuals and attempting to boost staff morale.

“In the many years that Mr Prideaux has been involved in the raceourse, we have not witnessed or can recollect any behaviour on his part which could be construed in any way as vaguely related to Mr Caldwell’s allegations.” The staff go on to claim Mr Caldwell’s description of the racecourse as “on its knees” when East Lothian Council stepped in 20 years ago was not accurate.

They said: “To blame the mismanagement of the raceourse some 25 years ago solely on the LRS is disingenouus and contrary to the facts, ignoring conveniently that local councillors sat on the MJRC dating as far back as the 1960s and beyond.

“The LRS have a strong track record of working successfully with MJRC-appointed councillors, especially under the leadership of former Provost Pat O’Brien.”