Road rage Conservative councillor called driver an arsehole before telling him to drop dead
A district councillor has apologised after calling another driver an arsehole then telling him "drop dead." Florence Newell, 73, a Conservative member of Fenland District Council, was caught on camera in March, Cambs. She said she regretted her language but that the other driver had been at fault for refusing to give way.
"I shouldn't have said it but I was angry. I don't usually use language like that," she said. Mrs Newell chairs the council's corporate governance committee and represents Slade Lode ward in Chatteris. She is also a member and former chairman of Chatteris Town Council. The incident happened as Mrs Newell's Renault came head-to-head with a Ford car in March, on Wednesday.
Mrs Newell was driving and her husband Keith, 83, was in the passenger seat. In the video, shot from the driver's seat of the Ford, neither car moves for a few seconds and then Mrs Newell pulls slowly past. As she passed she called the other driver an arsehole through her open car window, adding: "I'll tell you straight - drop dead, mate."
YouTube link.
Mrs Newell said: "I did use a rather rude word. I've got grandchildren and I don't think they would want to hear it. It just came out." She said she was angry because the other driver refused to wait at an obstruction on his side of the road. "In my opinion, I was not in the wrong," she added. A Fenland District Council spokesman said it had received no complaints about Mrs Newell's behaviour and had no comment.
"I shouldn't have said it but I was angry. I don't usually use language like that," she said. Mrs Newell chairs the council's corporate governance committee and represents Slade Lode ward in Chatteris. She is also a member and former chairman of Chatteris Town Council. The incident happened as Mrs Newell's Renault came head-to-head with a Ford car in March, on Wednesday.
Mrs Newell was driving and her husband Keith, 83, was in the passenger seat. In the video, shot from the driver's seat of the Ford, neither car moves for a few seconds and then Mrs Newell pulls slowly past. As she passed she called the other driver an arsehole through her open car window, adding: "I'll tell you straight - drop dead, mate."
YouTube link.
Mrs Newell said: "I did use a rather rude word. I've got grandchildren and I don't think they would want to hear it. It just came out." She said she was angry because the other driver refused to wait at an obstruction on his side of the road. "In my opinion, I was not in the wrong," she added. A Fenland District Council spokesman said it had received no complaints about Mrs Newell's behaviour and had no comment.
