KEEVIL parish councillor Malcolm Cupis has dramatically resigned ahead of the local elections in May saying his situation is now "untenable" after alleging he and his wife have been subjected to a hate campaign by other residents.

In his resignation letter sent to the parish clerk Richard Culverhouse and other councillors, Mr Cupis claimed he had been subjected to a campaign of "malicious unpleasantness" instigated by a small group calling themselves ‘the posse’.

Mr Cupis, 53, of Martins Lane, said he had had been considering standing again in May elections but had reluctantly decided his situation was now untenable following a "co-ordinated campaign" by some residents.

He alleges some members of 'the posse' had told other villagers not to vote for him because he is “a dangerous and violent person” and says the campaign has led to his wife Caroline being shunned in the street.

In his letter, Mr Cupis said: “I have never seen anything approaching the personal nastiness, sheer ignorance and bitter rancour that I have experienced in the few months that I have served Keevil Parish Council.

“So far as I can tell this emanates from a few individuals around the village who are determined to foist their personal preferences on the village without any recourse to democratic process and with open contempt for anybody who disagrees with them or who tries to work constructively within the strict framework that the parish council is required to operate within.”

He added: “There have been increasing levels of nastiness directed at Caroline and me around the village by this small group of people.

“To my disgust, I have discovered that this has apparently included people telling villagers that I am a violent and dangerous person and that they should keep away from me for their own safety.

“For me personally, the situation has now become untenable. I am not prepared to subject myself or Caroline to any more of this facile game of playground politics, enacted by a small group of people who somehow feel that their behaviour is appropriate and justified.”

Keevil Parish Council chairman Ginny Sherman and Suzanne Wickham, who also served on the parish council and on Wiltshire Council, had also been subjected to a similar campaign of personal abuse, Mr Cupis said.

Mrs Sherman recently resigned as chairman and revealed she had also been subjected to personal abuse and had been shunned in the street.

Mrs Wickham announced she would not stand for Keevil Parish Council again after moving to nearby Steeple Ashton.

Mr Cupis said the campaign of “malicious unpleasantness” had also led to former chairman Andrea Hunter and former councillor Graham Collins, to both resign from their roles on the parish council.