A Kent council is avoiding the use of the word 'brainstorming' because it fears it may offend people suffering from epilepsy or the mentally ill.

Tunbridge Wells borough council's idea for a replacement is the phrase 'thought shower'. A spokesman for the council said it has been used "for a while".

But the National Society for Epilepsy says it is "political correctness gone too far".

A spokesman for the charity said: "It's not offensive. It is a term we use as a charity in our working environment.

"When the wristband craze was in we actually used the slogan 'calm the storm' because it is like an electrical storm in the brain. It's a perfectly acceptable term."

Val Green, human resources manager at the council, said: "We take equality and diversity issues very seriously.

"There has been no memo or corporate direction on this. This arose in one of our equality and diversity training sessions that we run frequently with all staff and the 'thought shower' suggestion was made as an alternative.

"If the National Society for Epilepsy find the term perfectly acceptable then we welcome this clarification. If, however, the term does in fact offend even a small minority, we would encourage people to get in touch."