A WISBECH town and district councillor warned a Cabinet member of Fenland District Council tonight to “put your own house in order before telling us what to do”.

Councillor Jonathan Farmer, a former Wisbech mayor, spoke out after criticism from Councillor Peter Murphy, portfolio holder for the environment, over waste removal contracts for market stall holders.

The town council has taken on responsibility for markets and clashed with traders over who should remove waste and a special town council meeting on Tuesday has been called to debate it.

However Cllr Farmer said criticism by Cllr Murphy was “well out of order” and he said before attacking the town council the district should pay heed to its cleaning responsibilities.

“Cllr Murphy is not doing what he should be doing and is exacerbating the situation” said Cllr Farmer.

“As a district council they should be equality across the district and so far as Wisbech is concerned that’s not true. The streets around Wisbech market, for example, are not cleaned properly.

“If there are clean streets in Cllr Murphy’s home town of Chatteris then there should be clean streets in Wisbech too”

Cllr Farmer said he would out with his camera this weekend highlighting areas around the market – which are in his ward- and where cleaning he claims is not up to standard.

The former mayor said he had got an email last night from March resident Dick Lawrie who had visited the town earlier in the day.

Mr Lawrie told him: “Until I made a rare visit to Wisbech yesterday, I had always thought the most litter strewn places I had visited were townships in South Africa. “For a town that always puts itself forward as some sort of cultural capital, a centre of international tourism, and many steps up the ladder on its poorer neighbour March, the market place is a disgrace, especially that corner that leads to the steps down to St Peters.

“The litter there was bad enough, but the bottom of those steps must be where the smokers of the world unite.

“It took many years for the townspeople of March to persuade a then reluctant Fenland District Council to clear up the town, but clear it up they have, and March is a credit.

“The citizens of Wisbech must be completely without pride or standards to tolerate the filth that is at the very of heart of their town”.