A social media spat has erupted between Labour and Green activists over a plot to axe funding for a proposed “liveable neighbourhood”.

Labour councillors will put forward an amendment to the council’s budget in a meeting today, which would divert money assigned for a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) in Hanover and Tarner and invest it in restoring the city’s public toilets.

The proposal has sparked outcry among Green councillors and activists, who have accused Labour of “populist antics” and questioned the party’s commitment to the environment.

Among them is Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas, who accused the local Labour party of removing “warm words of support for LTNs” from their website.

She said: “We need a sensible, grown-up discussion about LTNs - to ensure clean air and healthy, liveable streets for all.

“We don’t need our communities made into political footballs or the spreading of fake news.”

In a barbed jibe at Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who has backed plans to redivert funds for the project, deputy council leader Hannah Allbrooke praised Ms Lucas’s comments and said: “Thankfully our city has one MP who speaks sense - not the one spreading misinformation about schemes to make people safer and the air cleaner to breathe.”

Mr Russell-Moyle took to Twitter to praise Labour councillors’ proposals and said the party is “putting the people first”.

He said: “Closing public toilets and spending over £1 million on a scheme to use cameras to fine car drivers really sums up the Greens - that is why Labour is putting down this amendment to save our public toilets.”

Labour candidate for Central Hove Emma Daniel also slammed the Green Party’s record on the environment while in control of the council, highlighting the destruction of the Madeira Terrace green wall and a flight made by council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty to attend the COP26 climate conference.

Other exchanges online saw Green Party councillors and activists accuse Labour of not talking to residents outside election time and calling the party “pitifully duplicitous”.

One Green councillor, Elaine Hills, accused Labour of “cheap electioneering” and said: “Tory-lite, pro-car Labour are trashing a scheme they previously supported under the guise of protecting a service we’re saving”.

The official local Labour Party Twitter account hit back at one activist and said: “We’re out on the doorstep every single year listening to residents' views - you should try it sometime.”

A spokesman for the Labour group confirmed that an article promoting a consultation on the LTN project had been removed from their website because it was "out of date".

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The proposed liveable neighbourhood in Hanover and Tarner aims to reduce through traffic in residential areas by introducing bus gates, installing bollards and planters and changing traffic flows.

The plans will be presented to the environment, transport and sustainability committee on March 14.

Labour’s budget amendment will be discussed by councillors, along with other proposals for the council’s budget for the year ahead, in a special meeting later this afternoon.