Tories on Merseyside have been slammed after they launched an "emergency" campaign to ask the public for money ahead of the forthcoming local elections.
A Wirral Labour source has described the opposition as "failing" after they started a Crowdfunder page to help stop the "increasingly hard-left" party winning power on May 2.
The online campaign, which has a £2,500 target, had at the time of writing raised £20.
Wirral Conservative group leader Cllr Ian Lewis hit back, saying Labour needs to "get with the programme", adding that it too has used crowdfunding in recent times, with the technique also used by the borough's Green Party.
Young man left on the streets after callous landlord kicked him out when his mum died
A Labour source said: "After spending thousands on advertising in Wirral it appears the local party doesn’t have the money to pay the costs and have been forced to launch an emergency crowd funding campaign.
"With Tory membership and support dropping across Wirral, the Wirral Conservative leader has had to go cap in hand to wealthy donors to bail out their failing campaign.
“Chaos in the Tory Party isn't confined to Theresa May and her cabinet - it’s here in Wirral too."
Hitting back, Cllr Lewis said: "Wirral Labour needs to get with the programme – lots of political parties and causes use crowdfunding.
"A Labour member in Liverpool has raised £12,000 for their all women shortlists and, here in Wirral, the Greens are running a crowdfunding campaign to help them win Prenton and Birkenhead and Tranmere.
“There is widespread concern, even among traditional Labour voters, that Wirral could end up with a Militant-style council after May 2 and so our crowdfunding campaign gives people, regardless of whether they are a party member or not, the chance to stop that from happening. Even just a donation of a fiver can help.”
The Tories' campaign centres around the fact Labour need to lose just two seats at the election to lose overall control of the council.
The crowdfunding page says "every penny" raised will be used to stop "a Militant takeover" of the authority.
Met Office forecast says Liverpool set for mild weather as spring continues
The news follows a number of Labour councillors quitting the party in recent times and citing a "hard-left" takeover, as well as Birkenhead MP Frank Field becoming an independent for similar reasons.
MPs take control of Brexit after Commons vote:
The Labour source added: “Wirral Labour, on the other hand, is a vibrant and people-powered movement. We are talking to voters right across the borough about the damage Tory austerity is having on local communities, and how only a vote Labour on May 2 can protect residents from the Tories’ cruel spending cuts.”
