A STORM has erupted surrounding a briefing document given to music group Madness by event organisers before their gig in Bridgwater last week - branding the town as full of "incest" and "drug murders".

Just hours after the ska legends struck the final chords on a hugely successful night for the town, the Mercury received a copy of a briefing about Bridgwater, given to lead singer Suggs by media organisation The Engine Room.

Called "Briefing for Madness" the first page of the document gives an outline of the gig's aims, discussing the Strummerville charity, aim future aims for the Town Hall Island Site.

But in a section called "Brief on Bridgwater", the tone of the document changed.

It reads: "The town is one of the poorest in Britain. It has more pubs per capita than anywhere else, and also more incest. Low social indices across the board, demonstrate the problems facing the town.

"In sink estates like Hamp or Sydenham, anger, resentment and desperation flourish, giving rise to arson, drug murders and darkness."

It continues: "As in all communities which have been dumped on from a great height, town planners have had a field day in Bridgwater, causing more destruction here than Hitler's bombs ever did to Bath or Bristol.

"A decaying town centre littered with charity shops and empty shopping arcades is ringed by cavernous edge of town superstores (and) a failed marina which no-one uses, makes a mockery of the once proud docks."

The brief ends by praising the "unique identity and spirit of the town". It reads: "Despite all these negatives Bridgwater inexplicably retains both its resilience and independent, rebel outlook on life."

The Engine Room said the brief had been given to the band in a rush and stressed the extract was taken from a wider film pitch about Bridgwater, written by The Engine Room and filmmaker Julien Temple.

The Engine Room insist Madness were made aware of the wider context of the comments and when Suggs was given a tour of Bridgwater, the town was "talked up" repeatedly.

Phil Shepherd, from The Engine Room, said: "The Mercury has seen an extract from a film treatment portraying Bridgwater as a place we love and care about.

"Madness were interested to see it as just a part of their briefing about the town. They loved playing the town and we hope to get them back sometime."

And Julien Temple, added: "This document is an old document, written five years ago and is not representative of what the film is now. It was printed out by mistake, in a rush before Suggs did an interview with ITN."

However, the document has provoked anger and upset from other figures within Bridgwater.

Bridgwater Town Council clerk Alan Hurford said: "We are disgusted, and distinctly unhappy about the content of this document. We don't feel it does any justice to Bridgwater whatsoever.

"It's a particular shame given the really great publicity for the town and the Town Hall project that came from the Madness gig itself.

"There was a lot of credit to the town for the reception it gave Madness and the way Madness responded to that, and we would hate for this to overshadow the event."

And Clive Lilley, owner of The Palace Nightclub which hosted the Madness gig, said: "It doesn't make good reading and it's certainly not my view of Bridgwater.

"They (Madness) must have gone back to London thinking 'Christ, where have we just been?'"