WATFORD MP Claire Ward has again clashed with the mayor sparking a war of words over the council’s spending record.

Ms Ward has carried out a survey of the town’s residents and says many parts of Watford have deteriorated over the past few years because of constant cut backs by the mayor and Watford Borough Council.

She says she is “astounded” by the strong reaction she received from the survey, which was delivered to more than 10,000 households over the past few months.

In response, Mayor Dorothy Thornhill has invited the Government whip to forward every complaint to her office, promising to personally contact every disgruntled resident herself.

According to the Labour MP, more than 80 per cent of those who replied were concerned at delays in rebuilding Watford General Hospital, worried by a lack of police and community officers or frustrated by poor and dirty conditions of many streets and roads.

There was also overwhelming support, she says, for retaining Watford Market and criticism of the council’s attitude towards the indoor market.

The council has revealed a £186,000 loss in rent from market traders.

Ms Ward said: “It’s an absolute disgrace the way the market has been allowed to fall into decay.

“A lot of elderly people in Watford depend on it for their weekly shopping.

“As a regular user of the market, I know how important it is to people.”

However, Mayor Thornhill has responded by arguing most of the perceived problems – including policing and road conditions – are the result of Government policy and county council cuts.

She said: “At the moment we are spending several hundred thousand pounds on doing up the market.

“Of course we have lost money because we have been kind to the traders, we have given them rent holidays, we have given them reductions and incentives.”

She called for Government money to be invested in the Watford Health Campus and angrily denied claims that anti-social behaviour is up in Watford.

Mayor Thornhill said: “She is going contrary to what everyone is saying locally. We are all working together locally, she is not working with us and is criticising us from the outside.”

She added: “I am hoping the MP will, with the residents’ consent, be forwarding on to me all the concerns about the council, because if there are council concerns I will speak to people personally.

“One thing is certain, under our administration Watford Borough Council will never return to the state it was in under Labour – poor performance, high cost, low satisfaction.”