Bath and North East Somerset’s Conservative Leader has been accused of spreading “fake news” with claims Council chiefs “deceived the electorate” over plans for Bath’s ‘ring of steel’.

Transport boss Manda Rigby has called on Vic Pritchard to retract his “confused” public statement and stop using security as a “political football”. Refusing to back down, he said the Liberal Democrat administration had been unnecessarily hostile, dismissed public concerns and failed to answer direct questions on the proposals.

Councillor Pritchard brandished a February 2020 letter from then Chief Constable Andy Marsh at the cabinet meeting on November 10th that he said proved Bath and North East Somerset Council was not implementing the ring of steel on the direct advice of the police.

He asked members: “Could the administration please explain why they have twisted this advice beyond all recognition, and in doing so have chosen to deceive the electorate?”

In the letter, CC Marsh recommended introducing an anti-terrorism traffic order (ATTRO) across the city centre – powers that can be used on a temporary basis to urgently shut roads to protect people from a suspected, ongoing or recent terrorist incident; or to secure a crowded temporary outdoor event. Permanent ATTROs can be used to protect people in specific streets when the police judge these areas to be sufficiently crowded on a daily basis.

In a response to Councillor Pritchard sent out by the Council’s press office, Councillor Rigby said she needed to set the record straight because he had confused two different ATTROs.

“One ATTRO covers a wider city centre area and was recommended by the police as a mechanism for the protection of the city from a terrorist incident and for pre-planned events,” she said. “This ATTRO would be in the control of the police.

“The other covers a smaller city area to be in place at all times to protect areas of high footfall administered by the Council.

“So it is important to be clear the ATTRO referred to by Councillor Pritchard was not the ATTRO we are currently progressing and which we have consulted on.”

Councillor Rigby was less constrained in an email to all Councillors, when she said Councillor Pritchard had used “fake news” to make “political capital from this project”.

“To that end I am calling on him to issue a formal retraction.”

Councillor Pritchard said the Conservatives had only tried to highlight the damaging effects the ring of steel could have on residents and businesses, adding that initial plans to stop blue badge holders entering had caused “unimaginable stress” and showed “how little members of this cabinet care about some of our most vulnerable residents”.

S. Sumner, LDRS