A Bay of Plenty mayoral candidate has had to apologise for making false and defamatory statements on Facebook.

Rotorua Lakes Council chief executive Geoff Williams says in a media statement that mayoral candidate Reynold Macpherson made false and defamatory statements on Facebook about the employment of two Rotorua Lakes Council employees, Craig and Ingrid Tiriana.

Geoff says these statements were subsequently published by other social media users.

In his post, Reynold wrongly accused Craig and Ingrid of being on Mayor Steve Chadwick's election campaign committee in 2013 and that, as a result, they were subsequently given jobs with Rotorua Lakes Council without going through any competitive selection process.

Geoff says these assertions were both untrue and extremely damaging.

'Craig and Ingrid were not on the Mayor's Election Campaign Committee. They secured their positions at Rotorua Lakes Council through separate publicly contestable recruitment processes managed by an external recruitment firm.

'Rotorua Lakes Council, as a good employer, raised this matter with Mr Macpherson, concerned for the welfare and reputation of its employees.”

The chief executive says Reynold has since acknowledged his original posting was both false and defamatory. He has since amended his posting to confirm this.

Geoff says the Council is pleased the mayoral candidate has retracted his statement as it allows the parties involved to put this issue behind them.