George Burgess was a colleague of Deirdre Barlow's on the council in 1989. George shared Deirdre's views about the stupidity of the committees, and approved when the Weatherfield Recorder published a story that the council had snubbed Prince Charles to open an abattoir after Deirdre mentioned it to Ken, not expecting anything to come of it.
When the Recorder blew the whistle on council plans to turn the Community Centre in Coronation Street into a hostel for homeless youths, most councillors assumed Deirdre had leaked it. George was one of the few people to give her the benefit of the doubt, and spoke up for her when Steve Rafferty moved for the members of the housing committee to vote to exclude Deirdre from a meeting to keep their plans confidential. George pointed out that the evidence against Deirdre was only circumstantial, however the other councillors considered the story in the Recorder proof enough and, seeing which way the tide was turning, Deirdre left the meeting of her own accord.
A few days later, Deirdre pressed George and Steve for updates on the hostel situation, though neither councillor would share the information with her. This turned out to be fortuitous for Deirdre as the next edition of the Recorder printed the outcome of the meeting, exonerating Deirdre. Afterwards, George paid a visit to 1 Coronation Street to apologise to Deirdre for suspecting her, and debated with Ken regarding the council's priorities, accusing him of confusing sensitivity with secrecy.
The following month, when suspicion fell on Deirdre again due to another leak, Deirdre informed Chief Executive Peter Reynolds that the real mole was council secretary Wendy Crozier, who was then sacked for gross misconduct.