Twitter impersonation reported to council chief executive

A BOGUS profile purporting to be of city council leader Vivien Pengelly has been posted on the social networking website Twitter.

The profile uses a sexually offensive term as an online alias, identifies the owner of the profile as “Viv P.” and includes the information: “Location: Plymouth, UK. Bio: I believe in a free homeland for Plymouth. I am very strict.”

A “negative” image of Mrs Pengelly accompanies the profile, and some of the messages that are made to appear to come from the Conservative group leader, giving support to the BNP.

In an early message, the person pretending to be Mrs Pengelly wrote: “Getting the hang of this now - does anyone know any BNP twitterers - must have GSOH - enjoy martial music and lederhosen”.

In a statement later, Mrs Pengelly condemned the fake profile, saying: “I don’t think this has any relevance to the city of Plymouth.

“I’m more interested in doing the right thing and leading the city in these difficult times.”

She said she would try to have the page removed by Twitter.

Devonport Labour councillors Nicky Wildy and Bill Stevens both posted comments on their own pages on the site, welcoming the fake profile.

They later denied knowing who had created the bogus page.

Mr Stevens wrote: “Good to see you on Twitter. I must warn you, though, there is someone walking the streets of Plymouth pretending they’re you!!”

Nicky Wildy posted a comment on her Twitter page, saying: “You have made my day!”

Earlier this week Labour group leader Tudor Evans faced disciplinary action after calling a member of the British National Party a “Nazi” and using a variant of the same sexual insult.

Mr Evans made the comment on his Twitter page, sparking outrage among his political opponents.

He was hitting out at BNP member Adrian Romilly, who was a candidate in the European elections earlier this month.

During a meeting attended by Mr Romilly, Mr Evans tweeted: “Nazi (derogatory insult) trying to stop the merger. So far he’s got slow handclapped and ironic hand claps when he sat down.”

Mrs Pengelly has asked city council chief executive Barry Keel to launch an inquiry into the matter.

That could result in Cllr Evans being reported to the Standards Board for England, the local government watchdog.