A COUNCILLOR insists she has ‘no intention to insult Liverpool’ after being urged to apologise over a tweet about Labour activists from the city canvassing in Northwich.

Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, has called on Cllr Gaynor Sinar to retract comments made on Twitter she made about members of Liverpool Momentum – a grassroots movement associated with Labour – door-knocking in Northwich ahead of Thursday’s local elections.

He believes the Conservative has been ‘derogatory’ to Scousers after she referenced ‘burglaries and drug incidents traced back to Liverpool’ in the tweet.

But Cllr Sinar insists her comments have been misunderstood, and that she was concerned Winnington residents could have been ‘intimidated’ following recent break-ins.

Cllr Sinar was responding to a link posted on Twitter by former Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Cllr Mike Jones for an Express article which states CWaC spent almost £15 million on consultants in three years.

After a Twitter user responded with ‘How to lose a vote 101’ before complaining about political campaigners knocking on homes in Beeston at 7am on a Sunday, Cllr Sinar wrote: “How to lose a vote: 102, ship in Liverpool Momentum to Northwich.

“After a few burglaries and drugs incidents traced back to Liverpool over the past few years, we prefer to see local people leafleting and canvassing.”

Cllr Sinar, who has represented Davenham and Moulton on Cheshire West and Chester Council since 2011, is currently running to represent Hartford and Greenbank in this week’s vote.

Some Twitter users responded to the comment, suggesting that Cllr Sinar was smearing Liverpudlians as criminals, and Mr Amesbury issued a statement calling on her to apologise.

He said: “I’m somewhat surprised and disappointed by the comments made on social media by Gaynor Sinar, being derogatory to the people of Liverpool.

“I hope she retracts them immediately and all local Conservatives disassociate themselves from these unacceptable remarks.

“I’m sure that lots of customers purchase products from her curtain shop who have travelled from out of town from places such as Liverpool.

“But I can assure her that if she wants local people canvassing we have plenty of those too but are very happy to be joined by others.”

But Cllr Sinar insists her tweet has been misinterpreted – and she has Mr Amesbury of ‘playing the political game’ by wading in on the row in the run up to Thursday’s local elections.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “There was no intention to insult Liverpool or its people whatsoever.

“I don’t go to Liverpool thinking I’m surrounded by criminals. Liverpool is a great city with great people, and it is the hard work of those people that made it the city it is today.

“But when you have a strange knock at the door it can make some people a bit nervous.

“This is just how some people play the political game. I was just concerned that people from Winnington might be a bit intimidated if they had people knocking on their door after all the recent burglaries.

“It does not matter whether they are from Liverpool – it is just the fact that they have got a different accent. It just happens to be that they were from Liverpool.

“If they were from Birmingham or Manchester or anywhere else it might have been a bit scary for people in Winnington when they have had break-ins. I think it would be better if they had local people canvassing.

“This is a local election about local issues. I just think it is a good idea to have local people canvassing who know about those issues.”