A WORCESTER Labour councillor says the party's leadership battle has become a "farce" - urging the personal attacks to stop.

Councillor Jabba Riaz says the situation which has developed around left winger Jeremy Corbyn is causing the party too much damage.

As your Worcester News revealed yesterday, former Labour MP Mike Foster has emailed members across the city urging them to not vote for Mr Corbyn.

The intervention led to some people sending him abusive replies back, including one who swore at him, as the bruising leadership battle rumbles on.

It comes as more members of Worcester Labour Party have now voiced their opinions on Mr Foster's email - which is dividing opinion.

Councillor Riaz said he was alarmed senior figures like Shadow Chancellor Chris Leslie have already announced they would not serve under a front-bench team led by Mr Corbyn.

He said: "We had a post-mortem in Worcester after the elections and decided that whatever happened, we wanted the leadership process to be a very, very quick one - and to avoid this current situation which has developed into a farce, really.

"The process hasn't got to the end yet and people have got the daggers out - you've got shadow ministers saying they won't be in his team.

"There's been too much personal attack, that's what I don't like - we need to stay united as a party and let the process develop properly.

"I haven't decided how to vote yet but if people are voting for Corbyn, there's a reason for that, maybe they want something different and think that's it.

"But we need to allow the process to develop properly."

Fellow Labour figure Councillor Richard Udall said he'd be backing Yvette Cooper as new leader.

On Mr Foster's email, he said: "Mike's entitled to express his opinion, it's what we've come to expect from him, I wouldn't have done the same if it was me though.

"But I haven't identified huge swathes of support for Jeremy Corbyn within Worcester Labour Party - I often think he's a comfort blanket for the party when we really need to grow up and win."

One other party member in the city, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was annoyed at Mr Foster getting some hostile messages back.

"The people who are backing (Mr) Corbyn will never, ever get it," it said.

"I am glad Mike Foster had the guts to tell them what they needed to hear, he is absolutely right to get involved.

"To then have some of them respond so negatively sums up what's happened with the leadership contest, it shows a lack of tolerance which I don't understand."

Mr Foster was Worcester's first and only ever Labour MP, serving 13 years from 1997 to 2010.

In his email he said he feared that if members backed Mr Corbyn, it would take the party back to the 1980s "when it ceased to appeal to voters in places like Worcester".

Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall are also vying for the leadership, as well as Yvette Cooper.

* To see our story on Mr Foster's email yesterday, and view it in full go HERE.