Torbay's Tory prospective parliamentary candidate has waded into the row over plans for Torbay's future and migrant workers.
The feud was sparked by Mr Sanders's comments over Mayor Bye's economic blueprint for the English Riviera which he claimed focused too heavily on low value jobs filled by migrant workers.Marcus Wood has called on Adrian Sanders to apologise for his comments, which he says were 'ill advised' and have 'stoked up resentment and racism in the Bay'.
But Adrian Sanders responded: "Sadly Mr Wood, like the mayor, wants an economy focused on minimum wage, insecure jobs, most of which will be in tourism."
He said: "Whatever disagreements we have I cannot imagine Mr Sanders consciously intended his comments to mean what it seems they did mean to the dozens of people who rushed to applaud him on the Herald Express website.
The statement went on to claim: "The MP's comments have indeed been a great comfort to people on the far right and however unintentionally, he is responsible for stoking up resentment and racism in the Bay.
"I don't mind having a debate about controlling immigration, indeed we did have a debate about it at the last election.
"But there is a need to tread very carefully to ensure that the way this topic is discussed does not serve the purpose of extremists.
"Adrian has drawn the issue of immigration into the completely unrelated issue of the Mayor's Vision for Torbay and I think that was a serious error of judgement."
Mr Wood also suggested that Mr Sanders had been left 'isolated' by his comments and should apologise.
He said: "I can't decide if this is either a very sneaky political ploy or a catastrophic mistake on his part.
"On the one hand it has the potential to shore up his flagging support with people from the BNP and UKIP but on the other hand I think he has possibly isolated himself from many of his own natural supporters on the Liberal wing of the Liberal Democrats.
"My email box has this week come alive with pledges of support from people who say his statement is the last straw.
"Either way it would be wise for him to apologise for the offence he has caused, especially to those Eastern Europeans who contribute a very great deal to the Torbay economy and who might reasonably feel slighted by his statement."
However Adrian Sanders didn't hint at a u-turn.
He said: "I am sure Mr Wood is only trying to be helpful and I am touched by his concern, but no one is going to stop me from stating facts or raising the views of my constituents out of fear that they may be misrepresented.
"I want a successful economy in Torbay based on high value, all year round jobs, some of which might be in tourism.
"Sadly Mr Wood, like the mayor, wants an economy focused on minimum wage and insecure jobs, most of which will be in tourism.
"With the largest ever local government settlement at the mayor's disposal this year, together with the extra bus money he asked me to lobby for, and the possibility of accessing the £45million seaside resort regeneration fund I helped get started, there is a wonderful opportunity to market the area towards more secure, year round and better paid employment than the local economy is presently able to offer."
