A councillor called for payday lenders to be ‘taken out into the street and stoned’ during a debate.

Coun Peter Hayes, who represents the Bollington ward, was speaking at a full council meeting during a passionate discussion about credit unions and payday loans.

He said: “There’s no doubt that payday loans are hideous things and we ought to ban them and the people who are promoting them should be taken out into the street and stoned.”

The rant prompted Cheshire East Mayor Dorothy Flude, who was chairing the meeting at Congleton Town Hall, to order Coun Hayes to retract the comment.

But the defiant councillor replied: “I hear you Madam Mayor. You may rescind I choose not to.”

Cheshire East has launched a crackdown on payday lenders and loan sharks, which can charge astronomical interest rates to some of the most hard-pressed people.

One payday loan firm was found by councillors to be charging interest of more than 5,850 percent.

It has banned access to payday loan websites from council-run libraries, while dozens of councillors, including the entire Cabinet, have signed up to become members of the Cheshire Neighbours Credit Union (CNCU).

At the full council meeting on October 17 a scheme to offer credit union accounts to secondary school pupils to encourage saving and turn young people away from payday lenders, won cross party backing.

Coun Alift Harewood said it was important young people learned how to manage money.

“It is from school that this type of business (payday loans) will go out of business,” she said.

There were audible gasps in the room when Coun Gordon Baxendale said he had seen a TV advert  the day before for a payday loan company in which the small print showed the average APR was 34,823 percent.

“I just want to scream out ‘please don’t ever take out one of these payday loans’,” he said.

Coun Philip Hoyland said: “I think it’s fabulous this council has taken such a lead on it.”

The motion was opposed by Coun Brendan Murphy. He said: “A lot of people use these facilities because they’re refused loans elsewhere. Trying to ban them is not the answer. The answer is to control them, to regulate how they operate, which is what I understand the Government is now about to do.”