WORCESTER City Council's leader is embroiled in an extraordinary row over a series of angry emails - with rival Tories labelling it the "late night rants".

Councillor Adrian Gregson keeps on firing off messages to Conservative politicians accusing them of bending the truth over issues like job cuts and service standards.

Some of the emails ask them to stop peddling lies to score media coverage, calling for public apologies or retractions over "inaccurate" remarks.

In one message he also ordered the recipient to provide "evidence" of litter picking standards getting worse, before telling him: "It's important to help us keep on top of miscreants".

Councillor Marc Bayliss, the Conservative's group leader, printed off the emails and brought them to a full council meeting, waving it in the air.

"Throughout this year there has been a very serious attempt by a member of the Labour administration to curtail the scrutiny of this council," he said.

"Members (of the council) on this side keep on getting emails, they are accused of all sorts, being told they are telling lies, one saying he needs to 'keep on top of miscreants'.

"These 'late night rants' are completely unacceptable."

After the meeting he said: "This has been going on the whole year, since he became the council's leader.

"If something gets printed and he doesn't like it he emails us to demand a retraction or an apology, it has to stop - he can't be writing to people to admonish them.

"We're accountable to the public, not the leader of this council.

"If the leader of your own group emails a councillor to tell them off that's one thing, but not the leader of another party - it's delusional."

But Cllr Gregson is sticking to his guns and says he would rather challenge opposition councillors in private over alleged inaccuracies than do it publicly.

He also pointed to the looming switch to a committee system of governance in May, saying he wants fewer public slanging matches.

He said: "We are supposed to be entering a new phase of getting on with each other a bit more.

"When I've had complaints about something they've said which has appeared in the press, I've chosen to go direct to that councillor, rather than make it a public issue.

"It's a better way of dealing with it then doing it the other way."

He also said some of his emails do not get responses back.