AN ARGUMENT over the future of a small piece of land at Elmswell has left the parish council chairman with a black eye.In the latest furore to break out in the notoriously volatile village voter has been cautioned by police after punching Ron Curry, the parish council chairman.

AN ARGUMENT over the future of a small piece of land at Elmswell has left the parish council chairman with a black eye.

In the latest furore to break out in the notoriously volatile village voter has been cautioned by police after punching Ron Curry, the parish council chairman.

Alan Wells, of Crabtree Meadow, hit Mr Curry after an argument broke out about children playing on a piece of land near where the two men live.

Mr Wells, who runs Wells Stitched Embroidery in the village, was arrested and cautioned by police on Sunday night – the first time he has been on the wrong side of the law.

"I struck Mr Curry," he said. "I accept what I did was wrong and it was totally out of character.

"I am 43-years-old and I have never been in trouble in my life."

Mr Wells said the argument ensued after Mr Curry confronted children in the street who had been playing on a piece of green land, in adjacent Crown Mill, near Mr Curry's house.

A Suffolk police spokesman confirmed Mr Wells has been arrested and cautioned.

Last week the future of the same piece of land was the subject of a heated council meeting which saw three committee members resign from the council's environment working party. Another councillor also walked out in protest at the "undemocratic" decision not to build a bridge just yards from the parish council chairman's house.