Aberdeen City Council’s finance convener has been reprimanded by watchdogs after he accidentally leaked confidential legal advice about the city’s Marischal Square project.

Councillor Willie Young was grilled yesterday by the Standards Commission after he referred himself to the body for mistakenly sending a private e-mail to Fraser Garrow, who is against the £107 million scheme.

Mr Young had intended to send the information to his former council colleague, Fraser Forsyth, and was accused of breaching paragraph 3.14 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct on confidentiality requirements.

The incident happened before protestors failed in their bid to get the development halted last March.

Councillors voted by 22-21 to continue with the project.

Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland, Bill Thomson, told the hearing: “The circumstances are relatively straightforward and are not in dispute.”

Roddy Dunlop QC, who represented Mr Young, said: “This is the electronic equivalent of leaving a confidential memo on a bus.”

The Bridge of Don member has previously faced the commission on two occasions after being accused of lying about a claim that suspending the Marischal Square development would cost the city £100m in fines.

He and six other prominent councillors were also called on to explain the distribution of pro-Union letters with council tax bills during the run up to last year’s independence referendum.

But Mr Young was cleared of any wrongdoing on both counts.

At this week’s hearing, held at the city’s Town House, Mr Young was censured by the Standards Commission after he was found to be in breach of the charge against him.