IT WAS supposed to be a special occasion to honour Medway's new mayor. Dressed as their favourite Dickens characters, members of the Pickwick Club had gathered in Rochester with glasses charged to welcome Ted Baker as an honorary member.

But when a joke about asylum seekers was overheard by two councillors on a nearby table, a cloud began to overshadow proceedings.

Club chairman Cyril Baldwin apparently made a jibe that he had arrived in the country clinging on the undercarriage of a train. Across the room, Liberal Democrat councillor Maureen Ruparel and her Indian-born husband, Madhu, who is also a Lib Dem councillor, saw red.

The couple, who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary at Elizabeth's of Eastgate restaurant, claimed that jokes about asylum seekers persisted through the evening. And, after passing an anonymous note to the 15 club members asking them to moderate what they were saying, the couple stormed out of the restaurant in disgust.

But the club has strongly refuted the Ruparels claims. Mr Baldwin denied members of the group had made any racist remarks.

He said: "I have many friends who are not from this country. I have got Italian friends, my wife's hairdresser is a Cypriot. I take people as I find them. If there was any suggestion that the Pickwick Club is racist, I would resign from the club."

He has now promised to fully investigate the complaints of racial jokes and has also made plans to meet with the Ruparels to discuss their concerns.

Mrs Ruparel said: "The restaurant is very small and they knew that there was someone from the minorities there. It really ruined our anniversary. We've learned to live with racist remarks and most times we just shrug it off.

"It's one of those things you learn to live with and we don't get upset that easily, but this made us very angry. We were just so distressed we just got out as fast as we could."

Her husband stressed: "We normally ignore these sort of comments, but this was a special occasion and it was really out of line."

Medway's new mayor, Cllr Baker, said he was unaware of any racist comments made during the course of the evening.