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French school children who are ruining Canterbury's reputation for quality tourism should consider visiting Dover instead says a local councillor.

His comments are bound to infuriate thousands of French folk who have suffered the arrival of raucous English school parties on their own doorstep and Dover residents will probably be equally angered by his outburst.

Canterbury City Council Liberal Democrat Alex Perkins, 44, made his remarks as councillors discussed a proposal for a new coach park for the city..

He is reported in a national newspaper saying: "They're running amok - there are groups of students who just aren't supervised.

"In my experience as a tour guide of the city I have seen many incidents of European children wandering around causing trouble.

"It's not good for other tourists to see this happening. We want Canterbury to be a viable tourist hub."

"Clearly not all coach parties are like this but there are many groups that end up wandering the streets when their teachers should be looking after them.

"They thoroughly enjoy themselves but aren't really contributing anything to the economy," he said.

Quick to insist that he didn't actually want to ban school trips, he said: "This is not the majority, the majority are controlled but I'm worried about those who aren't."

He said pupils should consider visiting less-touristy areas in Kent including the seaside resorts of Herne Bay, Whitstable and Dover.

Mr Perkins was not alone in calling for a different quality of tourist.

Council leader John Gilbey said: 'It's not necessarily going to be feasible to get rid of tourists but it is clear we do need to raise the quality of tourism.'

Tourism manager Neil McCollum added the cross-Channel visitors were considered to be the low-end of the tourism market.