AN Altrincham councillor has been branded ‘vile’ and ‘malicious’ after tweeting a sarcastic poster aimed at asylum seekers and people on benefits.

Trafford Tory Cllr Matthew Sephton sent Twittersphere into a spin when he tweeted a controversial poster entitled ‘England: The Welfare Country’ – ‘where only suckers work’.

The poster reads: “Tired of your job? Sick of working 40 hour or more each week just to feed your family?

“Would you like to relax all day and still have all the benefits of a full time job?

“If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should consider moving to England, The Welfare Country.”

The poster encourages people – seemingly foreigners – to ‘contact the Benefits Agency’ if they want free housing, utilities, food, medical services, transportation and legal services.

It entices even further by stating that, unlike in other European countries, England allows people to claim for ‘two or three generations’.

Cllr Sephton accompanied the image with the words: “I’m glad that @David_Cameron’s @Conservatives government is restricting & limiting benefits but still more to do...”

The tweet quickly grabbed the attention of fellow Twitter users, sparking a full blown public outcry.

Twitter user @cdaargh wrote: “These malicious lies contribute to disabled people being attacked on streets as "scroungers"; while @taxqueen49 wrote: “amazing level of vileness”.

User @BenchSue responded: “You are vile, would be ashamed to live in Altrincham with an imbecile like you in office”, while another tweeted: “Good to see you working hard to secure that Britain First endorsement.”

Even politicians waded in on the controversy.

Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington Jack Dromey tweeted: “@David_Cameron should disown this racist rant by a Tory Councillor.”

This isn’t the first time Cllr Sephton has felt the wrath of the tweeting public. At the height of the refugee crisis in Europe, he tweeted that migrants who refuse to get off trains at refugee camps were ‘ungrateful’ and should be ‘transported directly back to where they came’ from.

Undeterred by the most recent criticism, Cllr Sephton stood firm on his views.

He told the Messenger: “Welfare benefits are an important safety net for many people but in recent years some benefit payments have become a disincentive for some people to work.

“It is for this reason that I support David Cameron’s policy of moving from a high wage, high welfare and high tax economy to one of higher wages, lower welfare and lower taxes.

“My recent comments show exactly that support and were intended to be an illustration of why these government changes are a good thing - so that misleading conceptions can be confined to the history books."