A furious row has erupted across the local political divide with the Lib-Dem leader of Richmond Council accusing the area's Tories of condoning sleaze.

Councillor Gareth Roberts has lambasted a tweet from the chairman of the Twickenham Conservative party on the row involving Tory MP, Owen Paterson.

Mr Paterson received more than £500,000 from two private companies and then lobbied ministers and the Food Standards Agency in support of their commercial interests.

There was uproar in Westminster this week when the Prime Minister led a move to tear up the rules, potentially allowing his Tory colleague to escape the recommended punishment of a 30 day suspension.

Nationally, the Lib-Dems launched a series of attack-ads featuring the MP and Boris Johnson under the headline: "It's one rule for you. No Rules for Them."

FT journalist, Jim Pickard, posted a tweet alongside the image saying: "Not sure this sleaze story is going to disappear as quickly as they hope, expect more of this kind of thing."

However, the chairman of Twickenham Conservatives, Jon Slinn, took to Twitter to rubbish the ad with a two word dismissal, describing it as 'chip paper'.

The Lib-Dem Council leader, Gareth Roberts, hit back, tweeting: "Think the Tory 'We don't give a damn what you think about our sleazy party' attitude is confined to Westminster?

"Nah, its alive and kicking right here in Richmond upon Thames. This comment from the Chair of the Twickenham Conservative Party shows their true colours."

In other posts on the controversy, Mr Slinn complained about the lack of appeal process in the system to monitor the behaviour of MPs.

This morning, he tweeted: "The #OwenPaterson report is 173 pages long. The word 'appeal' does not appear once.

How did the HoC design this system?!"

This tweet came before the leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, announced a U-turn on the issue, suggesting there will now be a vote on whether to continue with the original planned punishment for Owen Paterson.