A PARISH council torn apart by months of bitter feuding has been hit by further revelations after its chairman resigned over allegations of death threats made against her.

Idmiston Parish Council, which incorporates the villages of Idmiston, Porton and Gomeldon, has just seven councillors after chairman Gail Warnes and vice chairman Fiona Cramer resigned at the last meeting on May 11.

Their departures follow resignations from six other councillors over the last seven months.

And last October, the Journal reported that five councillors and the clerk suddenly left.

Resigning, Cllr Warnes spoke of the “toxic and destructive”

environment at the council where the interests of the parishioners “continue to be sidelined”.

Highlighting the “severe threats” she had received, she said she had alerted both Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council about them. When contacted by the Journal, past and present councillors accused each other of following their own personal agendas instead of representing the community.

Cllr Roy Gould, who has been on the council for 48 years, said he knew nothing about the threats and dismissed the issues.

He said: “We have our ups and downs – it’s not something to lose a lot of sleep about.

“I think some of the new people who have come onto the council and left in rapid time don’t really understand the workings of the council — you need to sit back and take stock of a situation, not just rush into it.”

Cllr Nigel Crouch, a councillor for six years, said: “I can honestly say I have never heard anybody threaten the ex-chairman and I have not witnessed anybody be rude that I can recall.

That’s not to say that at council meetings there are not disagreements over the direction and policies.”

He added: “We have now got a new chairman and I think it would be nice for people to give him and the council a chance.”

Both past and present councillors said they did not know what had started the bad feeling within the council but some believe it was fuelled by a controversial housing development in Winterslow Road.

Cllr Mike Hewitt said the council row was “by far the most bitter” he had witnessed in 20 years of being a ward councillor.

He said the new chairman, James Humphries, would be trying to “calm things down and press on with the workings of the parish council”, which now has eight vacancies.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “Wiltshire Police can confirm that they have investigated this case and have concluded that, at this stage, this is a civil matter and one for the Parish Council.”

Other parish councillors either declined or were not available to comment.