A Tory councillor caused uproar and was blasted a racist after he demanded that "bogus" refugees be banned from Rochford.

There were calls for Peter Webster to resign after he said the council should refuse to house asylum seekers who he believes do not have legitimate claims.

However, Mr Webster flatly dismissed allegations of racism and said he was taking an "economic" stance. He said: "This is about economics, it's about Rochford's future.

"The Government has spent £1.5 billion over three years on migrants. Many indigenous people feel that money could have been spent on providing health care, schools or better housing.

"I am not embarrassed to say that charity begins at home. Money should not be spent on people who have done absolutely nothing for our country."

Mr Webster was backed by nine Tory councillors at a meeting of Rochford Council but a host of their Labour and Lib Dem counterparts stood up to shout him down.

It is not the first time the district's Tory party has been accused of racism.

Councillor Roland Adams landed the party in hot water after he claimed the Holocaust never happened.

Mr Webster had proposed a motion calling on the council to "record its sympathy to the residents of Southend" and "not to provide any council housing or other financial or social assistance to such persons unless required to do so by law."

Labour and Lib Dem councillors, many who had declared an interest in the item because they had Irish blood, compared the speech to the former MP Enoch Powell's infamous rivers of blood speech.

Lib Dem's Peter Leach said: "This motion is racist and offensive."

Labour's David Flack added: "No one has the right to judge someone who has escaped rape and pillage in a bloody little war. If they are being subjected to a little dictator in the Balkans we do not need another one dictating to them over here."

The motion was overwhelmingly defeated by 17 votes to nine.

MP David Amess has spoken in the House of Commons about the increasing numbers of asylum seekers in Southend.

Mr Amess is concerned about the pressures on the schools, policing and on social services and the fears Government grants will not be honoured because of overstretched budgets.

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