A Greater council meeting got heated on Wednesday after a debate about the greenbelt saw councillors seemingly square up to each other.
The meeting by Oldham council saw councillors shout at each other, with one being called “a nazi”, reports .
The row broke in the middle of a debate on a controversial housing scheme, which was screened online.
Councils in the Greater combined authority have agreed to allocate land for 115,000 new homes over the next 15 years.
In Oldham, 11,560 new homes are expected to be built by 2039 but this could increase.
The council meeting was interrupted due to the disagreement (Image: Oldham Council)
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Despite this, Labour lost its ruling majority on Oldham council in May’s local elections which led opposition members to vote for the authority to write to , the Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, and ask to leave the deal.
In Wednesday’s meeting, councillors complained that she had not been informed of Oldham’s “revocation” of the scheme.
Some at the meeting accused the council of “gaslighting” the chamber in an act they said amounted to a “breach of constitution” by not yet opting out of the scheme.
Cllr Lewis Quigg, the deputy leader of , was seen calling Labour Cllr Arook Shah, the council leader, a “dictator”.
He could then be heard shouting over Cllr Marc Hince, an independent, as he made a representation.
Despite Dr Zahid Chauhan, the mayor, calling for members to “refrain from name calling or personal insults” from the outset, things quickly changed.
Cllr Hince later turned around to somebody behind him and shouted: “Take that back now,” after being called “a Nazi”.
Earlier this year, he was criticised after a photograph emerged of him wearing a German military uniform with Nazi symbols on.
The argument broke out at a council meeting in Oldham (Image: Getty Images)
The meeting took place in Greater Manchester (Image: Getty Images)
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He apologised and said he had been wearing it for a “re-enactment weekend” with a friend in which there were “representatives of both Allied and Axis forces”.
The argument prompted a 90-minute pause in proceedings, when police were called, before Dr Chauhan fully adjourned the meeting after taking a vote.
It was reported that Cllr Graham Sheldon, the Conservative leader, and Cllr Quigg argued during the break, although the latter denies any physical confrontation.
Greater Police confirmed that officers attended Oldham Civic Centre at 5.30pm on Wednesday evening and that “inquiries remain ongoing” into racially aggravated public order.
Those watching online saw the livestream cut out, with a message stating that the meeting had been “temporarily adjourned”.
Viewers were informed that footage from the meeting would “return shortly”.
However, it did not resume until more than 90 minutes later, when the mayor instructed several councillors to apologise for their behaviour.
Addressing the chamber, Cllr Hince said: “I’ve had my fair share of abuse from within the chamber and outside. But I will not be called a Nazi by anyone. I find that deeply offensive.”
He said the comparison was “totally disrespectful”, and revealed that it was now a police matter.
A Greater Police spokesman said: “Officers responded to reports of a disturbance from a member of the public at Oldham Civic Centre on West Street at around 5.30pm on Wednesday.
“Police are currently investigating reports of racially aggravated public order, and inquiries into this remain ongoing.”