Mayor condemns abuse of council staff in roadside confrontation

A Hunter mayor has condemned the "indiscriminate council-bashing" he says is occurring in the community after a council worker was assaulted while mowing and collecting rubbish.

Cessnock council and Mayor Daniel Watton took to social media after reports one of their staff members had been assaulted while working on Wine Country Drive on Tuesday.

Cr Watton said he would not "preempt that process or make findings about any alleged criminal conduct", but said that pulling up alongside council staff, confronting them and yelling at them while they were doing their job was "completely unacceptable".

"Staff should be able to go to work without being intimidated, abused or turned into content for social media," he said.

"What's more is that I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the level of indiscriminate council-bashing that goes on. I'm actually fed up with it!

"Scrutiny, criticism and disagreement are absolutely part of public life - harassment, intimidation and personal abuse are not. Ever."

Cr Watton said anyone with a legitimate grievance had proper avenues to raise it with the council.

"Some of what I am currently seeing has gone well beyond reasonable criticism, and it needs to stop," he said.

In a statement, Cessnock City Council said the staff member was assaulted "while doing his job".

"It shouldn't need to be said that this kind of behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated," the council said.

"Everyone has a right to feel safe in the workplace, especially while working for our community."

The council encouraged people to look out for one another and to report any violence or harassment to police.

Footage of the incident has been shared to social media showing a verbal argument between council workers and another man before a council workers foot appears to be run over.

In the video the man approaches the workers before launching into a tirade about council and its efforts in removing rubbish from roadways.

He argues with the workers with each filming each other before the argument moves to the mans vehicle where he appears to hit or run over the workers foot before the verbal altercation continues and there is a scuffle over the mans keys.

A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed police arrived at the scene after the incident, however no formal complaint was made by the council workers.

"We are aware and are looking into the event as well as the videos which have emerged," he said.

Cr Watton said he was "disgusted" to hear a staff member had been assaulted.

"There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behaviour. Our staff go to work every day to serve our community, and they have every right to expect to return home safely at the end of their shift," he said.

He said his thoughts were with the worker and that he hoped the man was "doing okay".