Council meetings in Medway have become "so vicious" that members dread attending them, according to three retiring councillors.

Cllrs Glyn Griffiths, Julie Shaw and Paul Godwin (all Lab) say they will not miss the "toxic" atmosphere at the often late-night full council meetings when they stand down in May 2019.

The issue came under the spotlight recently when Cllr Alex Paterson (Lab) confronted Cllr Barry Kemp (Con) amid a row about the former’s Scottish accent.

Admitting he seeks to "avoid tribalism", Cllr Glyn Griffiths told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I hate full council meetings with a passion. What a waste of time.

"As long as they (the administration) can get the budget and the council plan over the line, they can pretty much do what they want.

"If you've got that, then actually all the council becomes is a talking shop – and not a very good one.

"When you combine that with the time limits, you’re essentially creating a sound bite culture."

The ruling administration has been in power for the vast majority of Medway Council’s 20-year existence, and opposition member Cllr Julie Shaw claims this has contributed to the tone of full council meetings.

But the Chatham Central representative is unsure why the divisions have escalated in recent times.

She added: "We seem to be spending so much time hurling abuse – I like to think we don’t – but there’s so much unpleasantness that doesn’t need to happen.

"We’re all politicians, we all have our moments, but it has got so vicious.

"A good old dog fight is fine, but it shouldn’t need to be like what it has become."

Away from full council meetings, all three said they enjoyed working alongside councillor colleagues of all persuasions in overview and scrutiny committees.

Cllr Paul Godwin concluded: "One thing I won’t miss is council meetings, although I enjoy some of the committee work and I will miss some of that."