A ROW over a move to rebrand Darlington Borough Council has shown no sign of abating as both the ruling Conservatives and the Labour group robustly defended their positions.

The war of words, which is the latest in a series of bitter disputes over the last year between the political groups, follows the authority’s cabinet approving what its members described as long overdue changes to the council’s logo and way it presented itself.

However, opposition councillors have continued to question the move, which includes cladding part of the town’s exterior in blue. Labour and Green members said the move would put the hundreds of non-political staff who work at the authority’s headquarters in a difficult position.

In addition, the Labour group has issued Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to find out the total cost of the rebranding.

In a lengthy response on the Darlington Conservatives website, the party accused the Labour Party of being “determined to misrepresent Darlington council”.

They accused leading Labour councillor Nick Wallis of tying up officers’ resources with lengthy FOI requests when there was “a transparent public report in circulation”.

The unsigned post added neighbouring authorities, such as Durham and Stockton, used blue on their branding.

It stated: “Their attempts to accuse us of wasting money in our bid to reverse decades of reputational damage that they and their administration afflicted on the people of Darlington is ridiculous and desperate political game playing that the majority of Darlington can see right through. Darlington is on the up and it is most definitely time to look to the future.

“In the run up to the last local election the Labour party wasted £230,000 on a legal challenge against Darlington residents when Cllr Wallis and his labour colleagues were attempting to close down our beloved library.”

However, the Labour Group’s leader, Councillor Stephen Harker, rejected suggestions the FOI questions amounted to political point scoring.

He said the Labour group had issued the FOI requests as the officers’ report to Cabinet had given no indication of the cost of the rebranding, except for £20,000 to clad part of the town hall’s exterior in blue.

He said the ruling administration had once again been unwilling to discuss a legitimate public interest. Cllr Harker added: “Whenever they are asked difficult questions, the Conservatives are getting into a habit of tirades and attacks rather than just calmly presenting their case and arguing their corner.

“It’s ironic that they have published the new Darlington Borough Council logo on the Tory party website. They couldn’t have demonstrated more clearly how clearly the blue they’ve chosen sits with Tory party branding. They’ve really shot themselves in the foot there.”