A Barnet councillor has been accused of “breaching the public’s trust” by abusing the use of his free parking permit.

Conservative politicians at the borough authority are all given free permits, which cost the average resident £100 per year, to use while they are on council business.

But Labour activist Adam Langleben claims Tory Councillor Hugh Rayner used the badge to park free of charge while canvassing for Boris Johnson’s mayoral election campaign yesterday (Tuesday).

The act would constitute a breach of council rules and the Hendon Labour committee member believes Hale representative Cllr Rayner should publicly respond to the claims, and apologise if they are true.

He said: “If I am correct, these permits are clearly being used for both personal use and political gain. It is an abuse of trust – you trust your councillor to act within the rules but in this case they appear to have been breached.”

The permits have caused controversy since they were introduced by the Conservative cabinet last year. All Labour members refused to accept the free parking badges, claiming it was unfair on the residents of Barnet.

Mr Langleben believes Cllr Rayner failed to pay when parking his van in Edgware High Street, between 7.30am and 8.40am, when both parties were canvassing at the nearby tube station.

The Labour blogger posted his accusations online yesterday (Tuesday) and called on the Edgware councillor to respond, but Mr Langleben has not yet received a reply.

He said: “I’m surprised he has not come back to me. If he can produce proof that he was not using the permit to park, I will publicly apologise but I don’t believe that is the case.”

When contacted by the Times Series, the politician said he would not respond to the accusations until Thursday morning, despite being told the newspaper would have gone to press by that time.

If he responds on Thursday, an update will be published on www.times-series.co.uk.