MALMESBURY Councillor Simon Killane has come under fire after a complaint was lodged with the police that he verbally abused a woman in the street.

But the town’s representative on Wiltshire Council has claimed that he is the victim of a hate campaign and on Facebook last week he posted: “I have put up with this persecution for weeks form a tiny minority of extremely hateful people who are determined to destroy my ability to do my do my job.”

He said the treatment had to stop and those responsible held accountable.

On Saturday the row blew up again after an encounter with Heals manager Alison Cross Jones as she manned a charity stall at the Market Cross.

She later said: “I was personally approached by Cllr Killane on Saturday 31st May while fundraising where he verbally expressed anger towards me.

“I told Cllr Killane I was happy to discuss any concerns he might have privately and asked him to move away. He then had difficult conversations with nearby members of the public. As far as I'm concerned I acted in a fair, clear and professional manner and the matter is now closed.”

Wiltshire Police confirmed a complaint had been lodged, but no action was being taken.

The Standard has also learned from fellow town councillor Julie Exton, who chairs the new Malmesbury Hub that she has asked for him to be banned from the monthly markets following an altercation there on the same day.

Cllr Exton has already lodged a complaint with Wiltshire Council about her colleague following what she said was an abusive phone call from him last month demanding she support him on social media.

Cllr Killane insisted that on May 31 he had simply answered questions from the public about dog fouling and had no knowledge of any incident in the hub.

However he did recall an “assertive discussion” with local historian David Forward over what he described as Mr Forward's “inappropriate website pages” about him.

Mr Forward later confirmed the altercation had happened in public at the hub.

On his own website Cllr Killane has spoken out against people he claims are trolls and threatened to use his Hall of Shame to ”publish any racist, hateful, defamatory or libellous comments and the names of those who have written them. They will then have to answer to their family, friends and neighbours about their unsavoury actions. Where possible I will also contact their employers and will alert the police to any threats.”