WORCESTER'S Labour group has come under fire for sending out campaign leaflets before Thursday's election that bore no obvious reference to their party name.

As the recriminations continue to fly following one of the most bruising electoral campaigns the city has seen in years, the Conservatives attacked their opponents for sending out "underhand" letters to voters which criticised Tory policy over bin collections, but failed to explain they had come from the Labour party.

No electoral rules were broken, as the letters carried the official imprint stating "printed by Worcester CLP". CLP stands for Constituency Labour Party.

But Conservative council leader Simon Geraghty said Labour had "tried to fool the voters".

"There is no Labour logo - indeed the word Labour does not appear on these letters," he said. "The candidate describes himself as a local city council candidate', and his name is even written in blue ink.

"It's as if they want to distance themselves from the national Labour party, which I find quite amazing. Trying to fool the voters is a pretty underhand way to win a campaign."

The Labour group has angrily denied Coun Geraghty's claims, insisting the letters were just one of a number of pieces of electoral literature sent out to voters.

"Everything in the letters is true," said Labour leader Adrian Gregson. "We have broken no rules. We sent out four or five different campaign leaflets and together they made it very clear Labour is the right choice if you want your food waste collected every week."

The row is the latest chapter in what was a bitterly fought campaign in several parts of the city.

From the talk of dirty deals' surrounding the Tories' decision not to put up candidates against the independent councillors in St John's and Nunnery, to arguments about the truthfulness of Labour's election leaflets, the mud has flown thick and fast from every side.

Things came to a head at the Guildhall on Thursday night, with the election count descending into pantomime when independents Margaret and Mike Layland held on to their seats. The heckling and cat-calling as they made their acceptance speeches was true Punch and Judy politics, with Labour supporters shouting accusations of a secret alliance with the Tories while the Conservatives cheered and jeered in equal measure.

"I was shocked by how personal it has been," Mike Layland said afterwards, while Margaret Layland said: "It has certainly not been very nice."

But Labour leader Coun Gregson said his group were in the right, saying: "It's obvious the Tories and the Laylands are working together and it's a shame that personality politics in a couple of wards is causing difficulty for everyone else across the city."