Former mayor collapses and dies during heated row at meeting of ‘Britain’s craziest council’
Peter Neal, 68, died on Monday after giving a speech at the end of a meeting of Attleborough town council
A former mayor collapsed and died moments after giving a speech at a meeting of "Britain's craziest council".
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Peter Neal, 68, died on Monday after wrapping up a speech at the end of a meeting of Attleborough town council in Norfolk.
The former councillor and mayor used his speech to urge members to "find a way forward" after years of in-fighting within the local authority.
As members of the public began to file out of the room following the end of the meeting, Mr Neal collapsed.
He was given CPR by Daniel Piddington, the Reform UK deputy mayor, for 25 minutes until emergency services arrived. He was declared dead at the scene.
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Mr Piddington told the Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury: "It is heartbreaking that his life ended in the place where he had devoted so much of his time and service to the community."
Mr Neal had spoken up from the public gallery to ask why the council's new clerk had joined the meeting via video link from Hampshire.
He told councillors and members of the public: “Perhaps I’m old school and find it quite frightening that we’ve got somebody who’s our own town clerk some 250 miles away or something like that.”
The local authority, where Mr Neal served as mayor between 2002 and 2003, has been labelled "battleborough" and "Britain's craziest council" after years of bitter rows.
Councillors have split off into warring sides since 2020, after a row over a pub lease gave way to a bitter factional dispute.
Mr Piddington fell out with three councillors from the Taylor family after they revoked his lease from their pub claiming he failed to comply with terms.
He accused Taila Taylor of failing to pay £10,000 she owed to a charity as a condition of a £20,000 legal settlement she won from the council in 2021 over defamation and unlawful removal from committee roles.
There have since been allegations of members being shot with airsoft guns, a councillor pleading guilty to committing criminal damage while drunk, and Ms Taylor allegedly being hit by a car outside a pub owned by Mr Piddington.
In May, outgoing mayor Andy Westby used his last speech to call for an end to the feud in the town council.
He said: "What started as a private business dispute between councillors quickly degenerated to all-out war which embroiled everyone else with it and quickly trashed the reputation of the council and the town itself which I hope they’re very pleased with themselves for."
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called on Monday evening just after 8.40pm to a medical emergency at Queen’s Square, Attleborough.
"Two ambulances, an ambulance officer vehicle and the East Anglian Air Ambulance were sent to the scene.
"Sadly, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the patient died at the scene."