Sioned Bowen has not been at her desk since the start of October

Sioned Bowen has not been in work since the start of October.

Although she has not been suspended, Denbighshire Council is refusing to divulge the reasons for her absence.

The council refused to speak to BBC Wales Maniffesto programme but the unions say her absence is damaging the provision of education locally.

The programme also revealed on Sunday that Denbighshire Chief Executive Ian Miller has written to county councillors urging them not to speak publicly on the matter.

According to the council this was done in order to protect Ms Bowen.

There is utter confusion for what has happened and the uncertainty that is creating an ill-feeling and uncertainty in the county Gruff Huws, UCAC

However, Geraint Davies from the NASUWT union said it was a "great pity" that such a letter had been sent.

"It is the councillors of any county who are accountable over the county's day-to-day running. A number of people face questions why this has happened and what has happened," he said.

Rhys Williams of NUT Wales told the programme that the was union was concerned about what he saw as excessive secrecy in handling the matter.

He described Ms Bowen as a breath of fresh air during her time as education director at Denbighshire.

"As a union we have trust in her and to be fair to her, the present situation should come to an end," Mr Williams said.

Griff Huws of the Welsh-speaking teaching union UCAC said that Ms Bowen's unexplained absence was in danger of undermining important education projects in Denbighshire - including a review of primary education.

'Concrete information'

"There is utter confusion for what has happened and the uncertainty that is creating an ill-feeling and uncertainty in the county," said Mr Huws.

"There are new developments in the county, schools will be receiving their budgets and there has been a review of small schools in the county and they are anxious about their future.

"Sioned Bowen has been leading this review. What is happening now?"

Meanwhile, Anna Brychan of the NAHT said it is hard to imagine another situation where a high-profile person like a director of education "disappearing from work without any concrete information as to why and what is happening" .

Denbighshire County Council refused to comment to the Maniffesto programme.