Months of deepening tensions between Attleborough Town Council and voters have recently boiled over at fiery meetings which have been interrupted by heckling and calls for resignations.

Locals have been expressing anger at a series of unpopular decisions taken by the council as well as the handling of a scandal involving one of its members who was recently charged with criminal damage.

Several social media pages have been set up to lambast the authority for what critics say is its reluctance to address complaints, with sites showing cartoon depictions of some members.

However, the councillors themselves claim they are being unfairly targeted in what they describe as a "campaign of hate" and have taken on their critics, with one describing them as "nutters on Facebook".

Things came to a head at a meeting this week with councillors outlining extraordinary allegations of the intimidation and violence they say they are facing, including being bitten, slapped in the face, sworn at in the streets and even having their cars tampered with.

However, the claims were sneered at by locals, who accused the authority of "hypocrisy" and coddling its members at the expense of taxpayers.

The latest meeting of Attleborough Town Council (Image: Newsquest)

WHY DID THE RIFT START?

The dispute has been rumbling for several months with councillors under fire for a number of decisions they have taken collectively.

These have included the move to take back and manage a building used by Attleborough Town Football Club and its scheduling of a Christmas market on the same weekend as an independently-run festive carnival, resulting in its temporary cancellation.

But there has also been criticism of councillors over non-council activities, including their business dealings.

Much of this seems to date back to March when one councillor, Daniel Burcham, had his offer of a lease for the town's Bear pub withdrawn by its owners, the Taylor family.

The Bear in Attleborough (Image: Denise Bradley) Three generations of the family, John, his daughter Samantha and her daughter Taila also sit on the council.

Mr Burcham had run the pub for two months when the deal fell apart, which the Taylors say was due to a failure to comply with the terms of the lease.

While Mr Burcham soon took over another Attleborough pub, the Griffin, his........

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