Two Hadleigh councillors have suggested all Babergh councillors, and some of their town colleagues, 'should be shot'.

Now Babergh leader John Ward has called on both councillors, Richard Hinton and James Bayliss, to resign following the remarks, and has also dismissed claims regarding Conservative 'whipping' by town manager Cheryl Tye as 'inaccurate'.

Cllrs Hinton and Bayliss made the comments two weeks after protesters converged on his Boxford home. A man was arrested and continues to be under investigation in that matter.

The remarks were made at a Zoom meeting, open to the public, following an extraordinary general meeting by Hadleigh town council to discuss car parking matters last night. (full story here...)

Although the chair Frank Minns had ended the meeting, and left, the Zoom recording was still open to the press and public with councillors Richard Hinton and James Bayliss seen and heard carrying on a discussion with town manager Cheryl Tye, while new town clerk Wendy Brame was waving her arms at one stage, apparently trying to warn that the session was still live.

During the conversation Ms Tye revealed a senior Hadleigh conservative had resigned as head of the party's local association branch and claimed it was due to 'whipping' by Tory bosses.

Cllr Hinton was heard to say: "That has always been the way. The conservative cabinet have always whipped Babergh councillors in voting a particular way.That is why my dad quit. He was a conservative Babergh councillor and he was being whipped and he was being whipped on national policy rather than jlocal policy it's just pathetic Babergh councillors they should all be shot."

Cllr Bayliss responded by saying: "We should shoot some of ours."

Cllr Hinton, whose father John is a Babergh district councillor representing East Bergholt, said he regretted making the comments, which he claims were 'silly'.

He told Nub News: "I do not think anyone would take my remarks seriously - the expression, "xxx should be shot" is so commonplace as an expression of irritation that it has lost any hint of actual violence about it.

"Since my own father is a BDC councillor, I could hardly have meant it seriously. However, it was a silly thing to say in the context of the aftermath of a council meeting, and I regret it."

But Babergh leader Cllr Ward believes action needs to be taken and rebuked the town manager Ms Tye and the two councillors.

"I have been appraised of some public comments at last night's Hadleigh Town Council EGM, which are very concerning," said Cllr Ward.

"Firstly, I would like to make a couple of corrections to what Ms. Tye said. It was the president, not the chairman, of the Hadleigh branch of the Conservative Association who resigned.

"In his resignation letter, he did make an allegation regarding whipping. True, there is sometimes whipping of councillors on some matters of policy, but this is a light touch and nothing like you would see at Westminster. For a topic as emotive as short-term parking charges this would be impossible and I have not made any demand for Babergh Conservatives to support this.

"Ms. Tye would do well to check facts before relying on hearsay and really should not be making any political statements in a formal meeting such as this. She should remember what her role is.

"I am appalled at the later comments from Cllr Hinton and Cllr Bayliss. The increasing coarseness of political debate, fuelled by intolerable levels of online personal abuse that politicians at all levels receive, should worry us all. It leads, inevitably, to encourage some to believe that violence is a legitimate action.

"The recent attack on my home is an example of this, but the comments from Cllrs Bayliss and Hinton about shooting politicians are simply unacceptable. They may have been made in jest but, in the aftermath of what happened to Jo Cox, they are grotesque. Both are unfit for the office they hold and should resign immediately."

Cllr Bayliss has been approached for comment, but has yet to respond.

Frank Minns, the Hadleigh mayor, is looking into the matter, however, the council clerk has said the Zoom recording did not work and there is no official record.

Fortunately, the whole meeting and postscript, was recorded by the press and members of the public.

Here is the transcript of the final few minutes:

Cllr Minns calls meeting to an end. Zoom still open and members of the press and public still listening.

Cllr Hinton: "First meeting of the year and I just want to quit."

Cllr Bayliss. "I didn't have technical issues,  I just dropped out until all the bickering stopped, when I came back and it was still going on so I left and came back again."

Cllr Hinton: "I did feel like doing that to be honest."

Cllr Hinton: "There is a fantastic question of a larger proportion of people voted for no car parking than for any councillor."

Cheryl Tye (Town Manager) "For information of councillors, the chair of Hadleigh conservative has resigned as a result of the situation. There have been directions that Conservative councillors must vote for the charges even of they are concerned about the impact on the town."

Cllr Hinton:" Who is the head of the Conservatives?"

Ms Tye: "I don't know." 

Cllr Hinton: "That has always been the way. The Conservative cabinet have always whipped Babergh councillors in voting a particular way. That is why my dad quit. He was a conservative Babergh councillor and he was being whipped and he was being whipped on national policy rather than local policy, it's just pathetic Babergh councillors, they should all be shot.

Cllr Bayliss: "We should shoot some of ours."

When told the public could hear what he was saying, Cllr Hinton said: "Okay, they voted me in, thank you very much."

They then talked about plant pots for a couple of seconds and Zoom was switched off.

• Whipping is a political term used to signify members of particular party must follow party lines in a vote, there are three stages, with a three-line whip the strictest.