JEWS living in Calne are concerned that their views will not be taken seriously by a town councillor after he was accused of posting anti-Semitic statements on Twitter.

Councillor Terry Couchman, who has been suspended by the Labour Party for posting controversial tweets about Judaism two months ago, has been slammed by Jews living in Calne for his use of social media, after he was seen to be arguing on Twitter with other users about Zionism, Israel and Hamas.

"This is a person in a position of responsibility and his anti-Semitism had reached a whole new level," a 50-year-old Jewish man, who had swastikas drawn on his house four years ago, said. "He repeats Nazi slurs and calls us Zio-Nazis. Wiltshire Police won't do anything and Wiltshire Council say it's OK because of freedom of speech but it isn't - we have had enough."

Another Jewish man, who has filed a formal complaint to Wiltshire Council's standards committee, said: "The code of conduct for Calne councillors requires that they 'promote and support high standards of conduct'. Coun Couchman's persistent antisemitic tweets demonstrate a lamentable failure to meet that requirement. Like any form of racism, there must be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism."

Both men have asked the Gazette not to reveal their identities as they are afraid of anti-Semitic reprisals.

Coun Couchman said: "Focusing on the basis upon which I have been accused of being anti-Semitic, I have, in fact been campaigning for the exposure of Israel's crimes for about 15 years, since becoming more informed by Jewish people, some of them in Israel itself.

"The 'trolling' is relatively recent and has subsequently become very intimidating and personally abusive. It has included the posting of pornographic images on my Facebook wall and making claims of my being anti-Semitic for criticising Israel and Modern Zionism."

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “All complaints about councillors remain confidential until such time as the matter has been resolved or it goes to a committee, and just like Wiltshire Council, all parish and town councils have codes of conduct their councillors are required to abide by.

“Wiltshire Council has a duty to ensure it has a robust and fair procedure in place so complaints into alleged breaches of the codes are properly assessed and processed. Either party has the right to a review of the initial decision on any complaint.”

“In respect of the separate issue of behaviour in council premises, we expect people to maintain a certain level of behaviour in all of our buildings and respect those around them, and we will take appropriate action if this is not the case. If a member of the public is unhappy with the our response to any complaints of this nature, they should make us aware through the council’s complaints procedure for full consideration.”

Calne Town Council declined to comment.