Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson re-bailed by police in fraud probe

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has been re-bailed by police after his arrest last month on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation.

Anderson, 62, said it was a "painful shock" when he was arrested on December 4, along with four other men.

The arrests came as part of a Merseyside Police fraud investigation, Operation Aloft, into building and development contracts in Liverpool.

Days later, Anderson, the long-time Labour leader and mayor of the city, said he was "stepping away" from his council duties, "until the police make clear their intentions with the investigation on December 31."

A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said on Thursday: "We can confirm that the five people arrested on 4 December as part of Operation Aloft have been re-bailed until 19 February 2021."

The four others also re-bailed to the same date are a 33-year-old man from West Derby, Liverpool, and a 46-year-old man from Ainsdale, who were also held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation, and a 25-year-old man from Ormskirk and a 72-year-old man from Aigburth, in Liverpool, who were detained on suspicion of witness intimidation.

Anderson, a father-of-four, who lives in the Old Swan area of the city, was elected mayor of Liverpool in 2012, having been on the council since 1998.

He stood to become the Labour nomination for metro mayor of the Liverpool City Region in 2016 but was beaten by the then Walton MP Steve Rotheram, who currently holds the post.

Anderson was also suspended by the Labour Party pending the police investigation.