'Abuse of council staff must stop' pleads Northampton rector after reports of food throwing incident in McDonald's

The rector of Northampton's All Saints Church has called for order after hearing reports of Northamptonshire County Council staff being "abused in the streets" over the authority's financial predicament.
Fr Oliver Coss has called for 'bigots' to cease their abuse of county council staff.Fr Oliver Coss has called for 'bigots' to cease their abuse of county council staff.
Fr Oliver Coss has called for 'bigots' to cease their abuse of county council staff.

Earlier this afternoon Fr Oliver Coss tweeted how appalled he was to hear the food was allegedly thrown at council staff in the town centre McDonald's in one recent unconfirmed incident.

The rector claims to have heard a number of anecdotal reports from staff at One Angel Square, who have experienced abuse after the recent swathe of negative press.

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In February, the authority voted through a budget that will see almost all its bus subsidies axed and all but eight libraries closed down.

Last month, Government inspector Max Caller issued a stinging inspection report on the council's finances.

But Fr Coss has called for calm.

"This is just illogical," he said.

"The recent report by Max Caller made it clear that his criticism was not aimed at the people working for the county council. This was about senior officers and politicians,

"If people have anger about his, they should show it at the ballot box."

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Fr Coss said the abuse was indicative of a lack of "political engagement" from a small number of "bigoted" people.

He added: "Anyone that has read that report, further along, has seen where blame is apportioned - and it's not at the council staff."

A Northamptonshire County Council spokesman said there have been no confirmed reports of staff being abused in the streets.

He said: “We take the safety and welfare of our staff incredibly seriously and would encourage any employee who experiences such an incident to report it to their line manager.”

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