Two Canterbury councillors became embroiled in a furious Twitter spat over council plans to close three of the district's five museums during the winter - with one labelling the other a "cock".

The keyboard war erupted between Lib Dem leader Alex Perkins and former Tory executive member Simon Cook.

It came after Cllr Perkins tweeted news the council was set to shut the "majority of museums" for five months of the year.

Proposals to introduce seasonal opening hours at Whitstable and Herne Bay museums, along with the Canterbury Heritage Museum, from January were discussed by councillors this week.

If agreed, the museums would only be open four days a week from April until the end of September - saving an estimated £65,000 next year.

In response to Cllr Perkins' tweet, Cllr Cook accused the Lib Dem of "hamming up" the figures, saying: "A Lib Dem cherrypicking numbers – surely not!"

The tweet led to an angry rant from the former council leader, who called Cllr Cook a "cock" for sniping instead of contributing to any debate.

The North Nailbourne representative defended himself by arguing that, although three of five museums would shut, visitors to coastal museums make up just a tiny fraction of those to all museums across the district.

But Cllr Perkins refused to cease the online feud, saying Cllr Cook was talking "****".

The proposals were discussed at the meeting, but a final decision is expected to be made by the council's executive at an upcoming meeting.

A council report, available on the authority's website, reads: "The option to move to introduce seasonal opening at Canterbury Heritage, Herne Bay and Whitstable Museums is based on a detailed analysis of visitor trends.

"Canterbury district, when compared to many other districts of a similar size, has an extensive museums service reflecting the important role that heritage plays in the district."

It adds: "However, running five museums with the current budget and staffing resource is challenging.

"Operationally, the buildings are run on a very tight budget, with minimum staffing complements in place supported by volunteers where appropriate.

"Therefore, as an alternative to seasonal opening, any alternative savings would need to be made from museums’ development budgets."