SEVERAL Flintshire County Council staff could face the sack after 'offensive' images were discovered on computers at County Hall.
An inquiry was launched and 47 members of staff interviewed as part of the wide-ranging investigation, mainly involving employees under the age of 25.
It is understood one image was referred to the police but officers decided it did not warrant investigation.
Others were of a highly offensive sexual nature, it has been claimed.
A union representative said the images he had seen relating to staff he represented did not fall into the category of pornography, although were not 'what you would want to show your grandmother'.
But council bosses are taking a tough line. County treasurer Lynne Blake said: 'The e-mail cases vary in nature. The less serious ones have been dealt with by means of managerial interviews. The more serious cases are being dealt with through the council's disciplinary procedures.'
Unison spokesman Peter Kane said most of the material - including George W Bush's face pasted on to Osama bin Laden's body and rude cartoons - was insignificant, jokey and, at worst, in bad taste.
He added: 'We felt from what we saw of the evidence that a great deal of it was insignificant, these were just forwarded emails and jokes and it could have been better dealt with by reading the riot act to them and telling them they were getting a final warning.
'But instead each one was individually interviewed, some of them for one and a half hours and four or five second-tier officers were taken out of action to carry out the interviews.
'I would not describe the material I have seen as porn, although it's not the kind of stuff you would want to show your grandmother
'One of the pictures, for instance, was of a Lego model of a man and woman.
'You could say it was in poor taste but the vast majority of what I have seen would not be judged as porn or obscene.
'The union will be representing some of the workers at disciplinary hearings and we will be arguing that they should have a stern talking-to and that is all that is needed.'
Ms Blake said: 'Mr Kane's comments refer to the less serious cases.'
