A town council meeting in Grangemouth ended in chaos after councillors were threatened with execution in a debate over so-called '20 minute neighbourhoods'.
Falkirk Council is looking to reduce car usage and promote active travel, but the proposals have proved controversial.
More than 140 people attended Bowhouse Community Centre on Friday evening to discuss the plans, in what was billed as a "full and frank discussion" but it appears the meeting was overtaken by conspiracy theorists.
The Falkirk Herald reports that councillors were accused of “genocide” for allowing the introduction of 5G masts, branded fascists and threatened with execution.
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The concept of '20 minute neighbourhoods' or '15 minute cities' has been adopted by online conspiracy theorists as a plan to imprison people within their own communities.
Falkirk District Action Group (FDAG), who helped to promote the meeting, withdrew support from Falkirk Unbound, the campaign group which organised the event, due to the nature of it.
Founder member Sharron McKean told the Falkirk Herald: "I wouldn’t call it a meeting – it was a protest. I was absolutely disgusted at the way the councillors were treated – they were thrown to the wolves."
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Councillor Siobhan Paterson (Labour) and Cllr James Bundy (Conservative) accepted the invitation to attend the meeting.
The former said: "There absolutely is an appetite to know more about 20-minute neighbourhoods because there are still a lot of unknowns. I was optimistic about the meeting but disappointed with how things went and at the level of aggression that went unchallenged.
"Given what happened to Jo Cox and David Amess threats of violence are not acceptable.
“They are real examples of the dangers of that kind of rhetoric. It shouldn’t be taken lightly – it should be challenged.”
Councillor Bundy said: “When the active travel strategy was being discussed by council, I raised concerns about the council adopting anti-car rhetoric and I stand by that.
"But the conduct of the meeting on Friday is not a way to convince people that cars still have a part to play in Falkirk’s future.”
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