A leaflet distributed in Beer, condemning the transfer of assets from East Devon District Council to the parish council, has been has been rejected by councillors as "nothing more than a personal and libellous attack, particularly on the chairman Geoff Pook".

The leaflet was distributed by an organisation called Friends of Beer (FOB), claiming to be a group of Beer residents alarmed by the parish council's intent to sign up to "the biggest financial commitment in our history without identifying the costs to the village".

The leaflet was headed 'Transfer of Assets? Things they don't want you to know'.

It went on to list 20 "facts" which the publishers claim are supported by evidence and not opinions.

One of these alleges that the transfer of assets will save East Devon District Council £300,000 in ten years but cost the parish council, which will pay out more than £1million just to run the toilets.

In its response the council rejects each of these "facts" in detail as misleading and incorrect.

As three individuals have stepped forward as being behind the FOB leaflet in an email, the council has issued a statement on its website correcting "inaccuracies and omissions" and firmly denounces the "abusive and libellous comments made throughout".

The statement said: "The parish council does not and will not condone such behaviour and would ask that the FOB print a public retraction, particularly in relation to the personal attack on our chairman who has the support of the full council in relation to this attack and many, many others throughout the village.

"There is nothing we do not want anyone to know – in fact the parish council has been trying to actively engage with the village in relation to the Asset Transfer for a number of years now.

"We dedicated our Annual Parish Meeting in April 2018 entirely to the asset transfer and invited a guest speaker from EDDC. This was widely publicised in all the usual ways.

"We have identified the costs (those we have been permitted to by EDDC as they are their costs) at every step in our public meetings.

"In summary, this leaflet contains multiple omissions and errors that conceal the true situations set out in the Beer Parish Council survey. There are also a number of unsubstantiated claims and personal insults that appear to be included with the intention of enflaming and prejudicing the views of other residents."

The parish council challenged FOB to produce evidence that the asset transfer is "a flawed project".

In an executive summary on the transfer of assets, presented by parish council chairman Geoff Pook in March, it was reported that the total number of people who completed a survey was 294 with 222 people supporting the transfer proposal and 223 people agreeing that the ownership and control of the assets would benefit the village.

Therefore, the majority of respondents were in favour of the asset transfer.