A COUNCIL leader has snubbed a reality TV star who is spearheading a campaign for greater use of referenda in key issues of public interest for being what he described as "foul-mouthed".

Entrepreneur Saira Khan starred in the first series of the BBC2 hit show The Apprentice, where 14 hopefuls competed for the chance to become self-made millionaire Alan Sugar's protg and the six-figure salary that went with the post.

Ms Khan, who was known on the show for her feisty attitude, has sent out letters advertising her "Our Say" campaign to council leaders across the UK in a bid to find a local authority willing to trial a referendum on a topical local issue.

But when the leader of Purbeck District Council, Cllr Bill Trite, who admitted he does not agree with the more widespread use of referenda in the democratic process, recognised who the letter was from, he felt compelled to write back and give the author a piece of his mind.

In a note he wrote at the bottom of the letter, which he returned to Ms Kahn, he brought up her use of foul language and urged her to help people and stop "promoting herself".

"I recognised her name from one of the episodes of the show I watched," he said. "I consider the constant use of four-letter words as an inadequate substitute for clear thinking and a sign of a limited vocabulary.

"I'm not a prude and occasionally I use such language myself in circumstances that are serious enough to warrant it, but using it routinely in every other sentence when there are millions watching is completely unnecessary and is not clever.

"It's all part of having respect for yourself and other people.

"Using language like that doesn't make life better, it makes it worse."

But Ms Kahn, whose feisty antics on the hit show won her the nickname "the mouth from the south", told the Echo she was shocked when she received Cllr Trite's reply.

"I hope that Cllr Trite does not treat local residents with the same level of discourtesy. He did not even mention the campaign or the contents of my letter but instead made a vicious personal attack on someone he has never even met.

"I was amazed that a man of his standing would respond, in his official capacity as council leader, in such a disgraceful way.

"No wonder people are turning away from politics when new ideas and the people who raise them are treated with such contempt. Cllr Trite has really let down the people he represents."