Twitter prankster aims jibe at Shrewsbury mayor Jon Tandy

A Twitter account run by 'James Billington' has caused controversy by duping people into believing he holds the role of Mayor of Stafford.

The person running the spoof account tweeted last Thursday: "Sharing a meeting with the Mayor of Shrewsbury today. Never liked him. Reminds me of one of the bad guys from Superman 2."

The real Stafford mayor, Councillor Angela Loughran, who does not use Twitter, today said the comments made on the account about Councillor Tandy were "unacceptable".

Stafford Borough Council has now asked Twitter to suspend the account.

Councillor Tandy, who is in China leading a trade delegation encouraging investment in Shropshire, questioned the comments online last week.

He said: "Never had the pleasure of meeting @mayorofstafford.

"Surprised by his tweet today. Maybe he was hacked or mistaken?"

Shrewsbury Town Council clerk Helen Ball said Councillor Tandy had not been overly concerned by the comments.

"The mayor has taken it in good grace," she said.

Mrs Ball said the town council had spoken to the borough council about the potential "reputational damage" it could face from the spoof account.

Councillor Loughran said: "Nobody minds a bit of fun on social media. But it is unacceptable that this person is purporting to be the Mayor of Stafford and making disparaging remarks about another mayor.

"This is bringing the mayoralty into disrepute."

The fake account has been running since last July. Many of the impersonator's tweets have been humorous but not what you would expect from the distinguished office of the mayor.

In one post, he wrote: "Looking forward to opening/attending @altontowers tomorrow! Britain's best theme park in great #Staffordshire."

He later posted a picture of himself, with a mayoral chain, cutting a tape at Alton Towers as if he were opening the attraction.

When contacted, @mayorofstafford said he could not comment because he was "busy with mayor duties".