A council drop-in session descended into chaos after a group led by Piers Corbyn stormed the event.

The climate change denier, who is former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's brother, hijacked a meeting in Whitstable last night.

The event at the Umbrella Centre was meant to be a drop-in session for residents to talk to Canterbury City Council officers about the Local Plan.

But due to pressure from the protestors, local authority workers decided to turn the event into a question and answer session.

Eyewitnesses have told KentOnline that Piers Corbyn and his group, many of whom were understood not to be from the local area, made attendees feel "uncomfortable".

The weather forecaster and anti-vaxxer took to the front of the room at the meeting and spoke about plans to divide Canterbury into five zones.

"Speaking as an ex-councillor in Southwark, we handled development plans before us and we’re always told, ‘It’s very early stages, don’t worry, this and that’," the 75-year-old said.

Then, gesturing to the document, he continued: "But what they want is in here already - dividing up towns and the whole area - which is divide and rule and bring in new privilege."

However, disgruntled residents started jeering at Mr Corbyn and demanded he "sit down".

It comes after a similar incident at a Oxfordshire County Council cabinet meeting last week where plans for six traffic filters were discussed.

Green Party councillor Clare Turnbull attended the meeting yesterday evening.

"In the Q&A, there were some people who appear not to be local," she said.

"Piers Corbyn was identified and there were people videoing.

"It was a very uncomfortable feeling and people who were climate change denialists and talking about 'Big Pharma'.

"There were a lot of local people there who were good at saying, 'we don’t want to hear about that, we want to talk about these issues'.

"It felt very uncomfortable and quite disturbing."

Cllr Turnbull says the protestors were trying to "dominate the discussion" and accused them of being "hostile and not constructive".

She says their comments focused on radical plans to divide Canterbury into five different zones rather than issues concerning Whitstable.

Council bosses have come in for a deluge of criticism since revealing their vision to ease congestion, which would see motorists fined for driving between new so-called 'neighbourhoods'.

Under the system, drivers would be unable to make simple journeys across the city as they would be banned from moving between the proposed neighbourhoods.

They will instead have to drive out of their zone and onto a new bypass - essentially a much larger outer ring-road - before re-entering their chosen neighbourhood.

Cllr Turnbull added: "It didn’t feel they were respectful of other people’s point of view.

"I support free speech but I also support other people's point of view and giving others the chance to express themselves which I didn’t feel is where they were coming from."

Another Whitstable councillor, Val Kenny (Lab), says there was an "air of hostility" when she arrived at the drop-in meeting and, at one point, there was "quite a lot of shouting going on".

"Piers Corbyn and a group of his followers were very aggressive and hostile in their questioning and would try to shout down an answer that was given," she said.

"There were locals who were there, such as from Chestfield, who were angry at the housing situation but in normal circumstances.

"We kept trying to ask why they were there but nobody would tell us apart from that it is their right to attend a meeting, which of course it is - but why Whitstable?

"We discovered a lot of them had come from London so it was not the local consultation that was needed.

"It was a meeting infiltrated by Piers Corbyn and his group who denied an opportunity for the locals to engage in proper discussion about the draft Local Plan."

Leaflets were distributed by Mr Corbyn saying "man-made global warming caused by CO2 is nonsense" - as well as sharing conspiracy theories about 5G masts, coronavirus and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking after the meeting, he said in a video posted on YouTube: "It was very interesting how it was going to happen.

"They just wanted people to chat and achieve nothing.

"But I spoke to the people here and a number of them were upset about that and we made the officers from the council agree to have an open discussion."

A spokesman for Canterbury City Council says last night's event was designed to allow people in the Whitstable area to ask questions and raise concerns about the draft Local Plan.

"We share the disappointment of our residents this was made much more difficult by protesters, many from outside of the district, who were determined to get across their view that climate change, the conflict in Ukraine and vaccinations are all part of a ‘con’ designed to control the general population.

"Our officers worked hard to ensure everyone’s voices were heard and their questions were answered despite any provocation, intended or otherwise, and they have received a huge amount of praise.

"We’re proud of our proposals in relation to net zero and biodiversity and want to hear people’s views on the whole plan."

The spokesman urged residents who were at last night's meeting to read the evidence behind the plan here and give their views by visiting here and clicking on the link at the top of the page to a questionnaire.

Residents can also email their views to consultations@canterbury.gov.uk or write in the city council offices before Monday, January 16.