The Evening Post has demanded a public apology from Bristol City Council leader Barbara Janke over a memo accusing the newspaper of "irresponsible and inaccurate" reporting.

Liberal Democrat Coun Janke sent the memo to 6,500 council staff after the Post published an earlier memo written by the council's security supervisor Lesley Young, which was leaked to the paper.

The earlier memo was the result of Coun Janke expressing her concern to Ms Young over the use of the phrases "my love" and "dear" by staff when addressing members of the public.

The Post splashed the story about the original memo on Wednesday, August 13, with the front page headline: "Sorry love, but that's ridiculous."

Its comment column went on to say: "You moan about your commissionaires or security staff greeting people with the term "love" or "dear".

"For God's sake why, woman?

"Don't you realise that people in Bristol use these terms affectionately, not pejoratively, not in a sexist way.

"If you didn't have your head in the clouds so much you would know that."

Coun Janke said she "issued no instructions to any staff banning certain words or greetings" and that her comments had been misinterpreted.

Coun Janke issued a memo to all staff on Monday, August 18, saying she is "distressed to find that staff are being publicly, nationally, and locally ridiculed as a result of irresponsible and inaccurate stories in the Evening Post".

Now the Post has responded with an open letter to Coun Janke from editor Mike Lowe.

It said: "On Monday you returned from holiday and issued a memorandum to all members of council staff making allegations against this newspaper.

"You claimed that staff are being 'publically, (actually spelt publicly) nationally and locally ridiculed as a result of irresponsible and inaccurate stories in the Evening Post'.

"This statement itself is both irresponsible and inaccurate and yet another case of an under-fire councillor shooting the messenger to get out of a self-inflicted embarrassing situation. You singularly fail to detail any of the alleged inaccuracies you claim our reports contained.

"We cannot allow you to insult this newspaper, its staff and the intelligence of our readers with such nonsense, none of which has been, or can be, substantiated.

"We clearly and accurately reported the contents of a memo sent to council staff on how they should deal with members of the public - our readers, the very people who pay council tax which allows the authority to runs its business.

"It is a simple matter of public interest - no one can question that.

"We believe you need to be more clear and concise with your staff rather than attack the city's newspaper for accurately reporting the fall-out of political misinterpretations.

"We stand by our reports. If you stand by your allegations we urge you to write to the Press Complaints Commission at 1, Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8JB, and we will be delighted to defend ourselves and publish its findings.

"Otherwise, we demand you write a retraction and issue a public apology to this newspaper, its readers and your own staff."

Since the Post broke the story it has attracted national media attention. The Post also dedicated space for 10 letters from readers on the subject in its Monday final edition.

The city council's Tory deputy leader Peter Abraham has called for an independent inquiry into the furore caused by the memo. He said that affair had dragged the council into "disrepute".

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