Signatory of business letter supporting Conservatives 'did not sign it'

A letter from small business leaders supporting the Conservative Party in the General Election has caused controversy after a company included in the document said one of its staff members had been wrongly listed as a signatory.

The boss of software company Aurum Solutions said the firm's Sales Director, Steve O'Hehir, had been included on the letter even though he did not sign it.

Aurum's managing director Helen Belcher said the company was "fiercely apolitical" and that O'Hehir had appeared on the letter without his approval

She told ITV News: "Steve vaguely remembers receiving an email from Karren Brady and he clicked the link, but he did not sign the letter."

Aurum sales manager O'Hehir is listed as one of 5,025 members of the business community declaring their support for the Tories ahead of the election.

In the letter the companies, which employ nearly 100,000 people across the country, said they "would like to see David Cameron and George Osborne given the chance to finish what they have started".

The Conservative Party insisted that O'Hehir had signed up to the letter. A spokesman said:

However, Belcher said the Telegraph had agreed to remove O'Hehir's name from the list of signatories on its website following her complaint.

At the time of writing, O'Hehir's name is still listed.

The letter caused further debate on Twitter when it was discovered that its the document's metadata showed it had been authored at Conservative Party headquarters.

A Tory spokesman said the party was "open" about the fact the letter was created at CCHQ.