A councillor says she "will not be beaten" after a series of "vile" anonymous letters were written to "implicate her in spreading lies".

Tottington Cllr Yvonne Wright says around six anonymous letters were sent to the councillors and another to Bury Hospice last month, which she says is aimed to spread lies and attack her reputation.

In April, Cllr Wright says she also received a letter from the DVLA informing her that she had been judged unfit to drive due to sleep apnoea, a condition which causes breathing to stop. 

Once diagnosed, the condition must be reported the DVLA and suffers are told they must not drive until their symptoms are under control. 

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While she was able to prove with the assistance of her GP that she does not suffer from the condition, Cllr Wright believes the incident is linked to an ongoing effort to discredit her.

She said: “Some of these letters were hand delivered, all have been sent to the town hall and some had South Lakes.

"Bury mail is taken up to Preston to be sorted so the letters would be posted in Bury.

“The contents of the letters are vile, every single one said I had passed on these malicious lies.

“I give my role my all, am responsive and very active in the ward and I enjoy helping residents resolve their issues but am aware that someone is now trying to destroy my good reputation with an orchestrated smear campaign and I believe trying to drive me out of local politics.”

While Cllr Wright says the situation has been incredibly distressing, she has received reassurances from those who received the letters that they did not believe the contents to be credible.

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Cllr Wright represented Tottington ward for 22 years as a Conservative before leaving the party.

Announcing her decision said her “values were no longer aligned to those of Bury Conservatives".

She was re-elected as an independent at last year’s all-out election.

She added: “I’ve had fantastic support which gives me a lift but it doesn’t wipe away what happened.

“I won’t let any letters beat me.

“I would ask that if anyone receives a malicious letter implicating myself to contact me so that this can be included in a a report being compiled for the police.

“Council officers have been very supportive to me which I greatly appreciate.”

If you have any information contact police on 101.