A TOWN mayor has apologised for using the word “spongers” during a debate about tackling poverty.

Bishop Auckland Mayor, Cllr David Fleming, accepted his language was wrong but refuted claims it was aimed at the people of the town’s Woodhouse Close estate.

Labour’s Cllr Fleming was responding to fellow party member and town and county Cllr Tanya Tucker who accused him of using the word “spongers” in relation to the people of her ward.

The allegations were made in an email sent to town councillors which also called for the resignation of the mayor, whose chosen charities include the Woodhouse Church and Community Centre food bank.

Cllr Fleming told The Northern Echo: “It was the wrong choice of words but it has been taken out of context.”

He added: “I’ve been working tirelessly throughout the year in support of that charity. I’m married to somebody who comes from Woodhouse Close - this is just nonsense.”

The mayor used the term during a meeting of the council’s finance committee on Tuesday last week.

Councillors were debating the authority’s budget and the allocation of money towards investigating a fund aimed at alleviating child poverty, such as a winter clothing fund.

In an email sent by Cllr Tucker on Thursday, she said: “The mayor’s charity this year is Woodhouse Close food bank but yesterday [he] referred to recipients as spongers. This is unacceptable and beyond wrong.”

She added his “only option left” was to resign.

However, Cllr Fleming strongly denied using the word in reference to those on the estate or who use the food bank. He said: “When we were discussing this Cllr Tucker said she could not support this action (allocation) along with Cllr (Leanda) Chappell who said it would open up a can of worms.

“After hearing Cllr Tucker’s remarks I was so disgusted I said it would be great if we had another £100,000 to spend but we had to work within the budget and that the money should go to the needy and not to spongers.”

Cllr Chappell said she and Cllr Tucker understood such a fund would only go towards families in receipt of Universal Credit and the pair did not want to support something that would not be available to others struggling, for example old age pensioners and those on zero hour contracts.

Cllr Tucker added she felt the town council should be “inclusive and not exclusive" and said the matter had been “blown out of proportion”.

The finance committee resolved to recommend an allocation of £2,000 towards investigating the fund. The recommendation will go before full council tonight.