A BRIEF war of words broke out during a meeting of Chard Town Council this week as a county councillor was accused of being patronising towards the town’s Polish community.

In his report to the town council, Independent councillor Nigel Pearson told the committee that the BBC show Inside Out had been in touch wishing to produce a piece on the town’s Polish population.

He told members that he saw it as a good opportunity for the town council to reach out to the Polish community and “get them to integrate into our society a bit better”, adding that in his experience they were “extremely hard working” and “quite intelligent”.

But before giving his own report to the committee, district councillor Nigel Mermagen, Liberal Democrat ward member for Avishayes, said: “I was interested to note that the county councillor said he thought that the Polish community was ‘quite intelligent’; I have seldom heard a more patronising statement and I hope he withdraws it.”

Cllr Pearson replied that he was “not prepared to put up with” what Cllr Mermagen had said, before the Mayor, Cllr Jenny Kenton, ordered the meeting continue to other business.