A WAR of words has erupted between Workington MP and the new leader of Allerdale council amid “gagging” claims.

Independent councillor Marion Fitzgerald has hit back at Sue Hayman after the Labour politician accused the borough council’s new administration of attempting to silence her.

The comments come in a febrile political climate which has seen Labour lose control of the council following the local elections, with two deeply controversial decisions taken by the new administration during the first few weeks of their tenure.

The new executive has come under fire from Mrs Hayman for scrapping the multi-million stadium plans developed by the previous Labour-led executive.

The cancellation earlier this month of collections of garden waste and mixed glass, plastic and tins sparked a feud over who is ultimately responsible for the district’s “bin chaos”.

The previous administration agreed the previous £25million contract, but it was the present Independent-led executive that announced the suspension of services as members work resolve the crisis with contractors FCC Environment.

Mrs Hayman claimed that Mrs Fitzgerald had asked her to “avoid publishing questions in the press and on social media before I have had the opportunity to respond”.

Responding to Mrs Hayman’s broadside, Mrs Fitzgerald strongly denied that she had sought to stifle the Workington MP.

She said: “I must protest at the words ‘Allerdale will not gag me.’

“At no time has such a thing ever been suggested and, if the article (Mrs Hayman’s original column) had quoted my response to Sue’s letters in full, it would have included my offer to furnish the MP with as much information as I am able to.

“I have today responded to a third letter from Sue in an equally open manner. Call me old-fashioned, but I consider it a matter of courtesy to at least try to obtain the answers before publishing questions though every available channel.

“However, I am learning that this is what politicians do. I do not belong in that tribe. I have always believed that party politics has no place at local government level. Councillors should simply be doing their best to look after the interests of the communities they serve.

“Whilst the original changes to the waste and recycling system were presided over by the former administration, I fully accept that it is the responsibility of the present council to put things right as swiftly as possible. Negotiations with the contractor are underway.

“Sue should be aware that I have had a meeting with Coun Smith, the previous leader, and that we have agreed that we will not be engaging in a ‘blame game.’

“The important thing is to get the problem sorted as rapidly as possible and we are working hard to ensure that this happens.

“I have answered each of Sue’s letters in full but so far it seems that she has chosen not to share my responses. I have also made it very clear that I have no objection to the documents that we studied in relation to the Workington Stadium project being made public. The council’s Monitoring Officer is looking into how this can be achieved.

“It was clear to the members who made the decision to scale back the project that, for the original stadium to succeed, many variables would have to fall into place in a particular way. “We were not satisfied that this was likely to happen and concluded that the balance of probability was that the council, as guarantor, would be exposed to an unacceptable level of risk. We are working with the rugby and football clubs to produce an alternative proposal in due course.”