TWO Winsford town councillors have quit their group to become independents following allegations surrounding the town’s upcoming inaugural pride event.

Cllrs Lorraine Murphy and Stella Mellor had been members of Winsford Salt of the Earth, a group comprised of local people who took 14 of the town council’s 15 seats at the local elections in May.

The independent group had formed earlier this year with the aim of putting 'people before politics'. But in a joint statement published on Facebook, they have announced a decision to quit the group and said they will instead continue to represent their wards as independents.

Winsford is due to host its first-ever Pride festival celebrating the LGBTQ+ community this Saturday, and their statement alleged that comments had been made online in relation to the event which had led to their decision to step away from the group.

The statement said: “We want to make this clear, people are very much entitled to have their own views and opinions, it's their right, but that does not mean that they are free from criticism or consequences of those views or opinions.”

The statement added: “We do want to make perfectly clear we are not stepping away from the residents of Winsford, we will continue to help and provide support for our residents and our community as Independent councillors.”

In a joint statement, Cllr Simon Boone and Mandy Clare, both Salt of the Earth councillors on Cheshire West and Chester Council, added: “Any views or concerns we have expressed regarding Pride are nothing to do with homophobia, transphobia or bigotry of any kind.

“It’s not our decision whether Winsford has its own Pride, but as borough councillors we are entitled to express concerns and make recommendations and we’re grateful when staff agreed to take these up.”

They added: “All views expressed have been within the bounds of legitimate free speech and have been lawful.

"None of it constitutes hate speech or incitement to anything at all - this has been confirmed to us by the police. There will be issues we don’t all agree on and that should be tolerated.”