A maverick politician has won his legal fight against one of the driving forces behind plans to build a £600 million aquarium and visitor centre in Bedfordshire.

Coun Tony Hare, who was then a member of Bedford Borough Council and remains on Elstow Parish Council, claimed he was defamed in an email written in 2006 by Ronnie Murning, project director of Nirah.

Legal reasons prevent Bedford Today from describing its contents in detail, except to say that it speculated in robust terms about the frequency of certain activities in Coun Hare's private life.

Mr Murning's lawyers have now agreed to print a substantial apology to Coun Hare in two newspapers, and to pay damages.

The apology, printed on page 12 of today's Times & Citizen newspaper, states: "I accept that I wrongly used obscene language and wrongly used obscene references to Coun Hare's private life.

"I accept what I said was false and hurtful and I am very sorry.

"My email also referred to Coun Hare as spineless and an enemy of the Nirah project. I accept that such references are completely false and I should not have said what I did.

"I accept that Coun Hare has publicly, and consistently, staged support for the Nirah concept, albeit objecting to the visitor access scheme and the lack of accountability for public money."

Mr Murning had sent the email in question at 9.06pm on June 27, 2006.

But despite noting on the message that he had copied the email to "only a few of the very many who committed themselves to chasing the dream", he appeared to unintentionally send out the missive far more widely – to 38 people in fact.

He apologised just 13 hours later, retracting "all of the comments" he made "regarding certain individuals".

Coun Hare subsequently lodged his complaint with the High Court in London.

The history of the Nirah scheme goes back to 2004, when Bedfordshire first expressed an interest in hosting the scheme.

Its aim is to transform the Quest claypit in Stewartby into a research centre and visitor attraction, including the world's largest freshwater aquarium stocked with fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Coun Hare has expressed doubts about its finances, while the firm building the nearby Wixams development has claimed that traffic from Nirah visitors would seriously impact on the lives of residents who will move there over the next few years.

This week Coun Hare said: "There is not much I can say for legal reasons but I am happy with the settlement. I have always said that Nirah could be a brilliant scheme, without a doubt."