MYSTERY surrounds the future of under-fire Wyre Forest district councillor Rachel Lewis following her suspension from Health Concern.

Council chairman and group leader John Gordon confirmed Mrs Lewis, at the centre of a storm over her allocation of a house in Wribbenhall, Bewdley, had been suspended ahead of an investigation into fresh allegations but would not disclose details.

Mrs Lewis said she was unable to comment until she was "in possession of the nature of the allegations" being made against her.

She said: "I wish to make it clear that the issue surrounding my suspension is entirely separate from the problems which my housing allocation has caused.

"I am not suspended from my full council duties, and will continue to represent my constituents as before.

"The temporary suspension from party meetings is not deemed to be disciplinary action or any presumption of guilt."

Residents from the Queensway area of Wribbenhall are furious with Wyre Forest Community Housing for allocating a three-bedroom house to Mrs Lewis despite the fact she had similar accommodation in Kidderminster.

They are planning a "calm" protest outside the house in Wribbenhall tonight, having raised a 300-name petition calling for an investigation.

Mrs Lewis's solicitor Jill Reid told the Shuttle/Times & News the councillor had received a letter from council chief executive Walter Delin which stated leaflets circulated by petition organisers were "calculated to incite aggression and hatred".

But Wribbenhall resident Jane Cohen said protesters were only seeking answers and a police presence would avoid the possibility of any trouble.

Mrs Lewis, who has considered resigning from Health Concern after the General Election, has said she would welcome an inquiry into the allocation from an independent body "in view of the ill feeling and jealousy" it had caused.

She said she had first applied for a house in Bewdley when homeless in 1999 following separation from her husband, when she had two children and was expecting another.

She had "no alternative" to accept a house in Kidderminster and several houses in Bewdley had since been given to people with greater need.

And she said Wyre Forest Community Housing was keen that she was not shown preferential treatment when she applied again in 2000.

"I was therefore, in my view, made to follow the procedures much more rigorously and correctly than any other applicant because of my position," Mrs Lewis added.