UPDATED 4PM

COUGHING and sneezing Worcester people have been accused of spreading germs by not covering their faces - with a former city mayor calling it "dirty and disgusting".

Councillor Alan Amos has launched into a rant about sniffling and spluttering members of the public, saying viruses are spreading across buses, trains and even restaurants because they are too lazy to cover up.

The outspoken ex-first citizen has even revealed how he stops members of the public to give them a dressing down if he spots it going on - saying the whole city would benefit if more people copied him.

He insists the problem is at its worst on Worcester's buses - saying he once went home to shower after a woman in Warndon willingly sprayed a foul sneeze all over the back of his neck.

The councillor has called it "appalling behaviour" and has urged people across the whole county to sort their act out, calling upon parents to focus on it with their children.

"It's a very serious point I'm making - people talk about flu epidemics these days and it seems if one person has something, everyone gets it," he said.

"I know we are more packed in these days but people aren't mitigating against it.

"I was on a bus a few months ago sitting on low seats, someone sneezed right behind me and I felt the full force of it right on the back of my neck.

"It's dirty and disgusting - if someone coughs or sneezes in close proximity to me I tell them."

Councillor Amos, who is a regular bus user, said most people he stops look "surprised and then hurt", but believes it makes a difference.

"It's absolutely appalling behaviour. People don't like being called dirty and disgusting but it is dirty and disgusting," he added.

"I work on the principle that if parents don't tell people what to do (when growing up), I'm happy to do so myself.

"At the Sebright bus stop (near Sebright Avenue in Worcester) someone coughed right by me and I told them it was absolutely disgusting," he said.

"But you can't stand 10 yards away from everyone. I was on a train last week and someone was coughing so much, I moved seats.

"If the biggest deterrent to our health is our own personal behaviour we've got to talk about this."

Councillor Amos' comments to your Worcester News follow a council scrutiny meeting this past Wednesday, where they debated how to make the city healthier.

At that meeting he said "we have fat, lazy children because we've got fat, lazy parents" who give them too much junk food and drive them everywhere.

He also mentioned his dismay over coughing and sneezing, saying he finds the lack of people covering their faces "absolutely appalling".

The comments have led to Public Health England re-issuing advice this afternoon for Worcestershire people to be vigilant.

A spokesman said: “If you have a cold use tissues to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, then throw used tissues away as soon as possible and wash your hands.”

Dr Bharat Sibal, the body’s West Midlands health protection team consultant in communicable diseases, added: “We know that by washing hands with soap and water it can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal illness by nearly 50 per cent - a few simple measures can stop people becoming unwell.”

* Is Councillor Amos right? Do you see this sort of behaviour? Leave your comments below or email te@worcesternews.co.uk.