The Mayor of Haringey has been found guilty of attempting to use her position in the council for personal gain.

Councillor Sheila Peacock sent two letters by email on council-headed paper, from her council email address and signed with her mayoral title to deal with a personal matter that had no relation to her work at the authority.

A standards committee investigation concluded she had breached the members’ code of conduct by attempting to use her mayoral title as a position of influence.

The standards committee has not revealed details of the personal matter that the letters concerned.

The report, published late last night, stated that “in carrying out these actions, Councillor Peacock had attempted to secure an improper advantage for herself and she had brought her office as Mayor into disrepute”.

Cllr Peacock has been officially censured by the standards committee, which also recommended she be given further training on the use of council resources.

The committee also recommended that Labour group leader Councillor Claire Kober considers its findings if she is ever considering appointing Mayor Peacock to any committee or cabinet roles when she returns to her role as councillor.

Mayor Peacock has previously courted controversy, once stating that “the second riots we’ve just had was the best thing that’s happened in Tottenham for a while”, referring to the subsequent investment in the area.

Haringey Labour says it is preparing a statement on the committee’s findings.