Cllr Todd took the unprecedented step after Mr Choudhary, Peterborough mayor in 1996/97, was jailed for rigging votes in the 2004 Peterborough City Council election.

Her decision to remove the photograph from the mayor's parlour came under fire at the annual council meeting on Monday, when Labour leader Cllr Nazim Khan called the intervention "disrespectful".

Cllr Khan praised Cllr Todd for "great work" during her mayoral term, but said her decision meant that her year in office had ended in "sadness".

He said: "It is disrespectful to the majority of the community to remove the picture of a former mayor. I hope you will re-consider that decision."

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Cllr Khan and Mr Choudhary previously served together on the Labour benches.

Following the meeting, Cllr Khan was backed up by his Labour colleague Cllr Zahid Hussain, who said Cllr Todd had no right to remove the photograph from a public area.

Meanwhile, prior to the meeting, Cllr Charles Swift, mayor in 1961/62 and the leader of the Peterborough Independent Forum, said: "If the photograph has been taken down from the mayor's parlour, it is a diabolical liberty.

"I take great exception because no one has the right to take a photograph away – apart from the council."

Cllr Todd said she stood by her decision, which was taken following consultation with, and support from, other councillors.

Explaining her decision last week, Cllr Todd said: "The mayor's parlour was my domain for the mayoral year, and every mayor has the right to decide what is and what isn't displayed in there.

"I believe it is a great honour to be a mayor, and therefore I did not believe it was right to continue to display Mohammed Choudhary's photograph in the mayor's parlour after his recent conviction for election fraud."

Cllr Todd said it was up to Peterborough's new mayor, Cllr Pat Nash, to decide whether the photograph was returned to the mayor's parlour.

A council spokesman said there were no firm rules on the removal of Choudhary's picture.

He said: "We took the view that Cllr Marion Todd, as the mayor at that time ,was able to decide what she wishes to display and not display in the mayor's parlour, and she made the decision that the photograph was to be removed.

"Councillor Pat Nash as the new mayor will have a similar right to choose what she wants to display and not display in the mayor's parlour."

Related: Jailed benefit cheat appointed new deputy mayor
GUL Nawaz - a city councillor who served a one-month jail term for a £3,000 benefit fiddle in 2002 - was, as expected, elected as Peterborough's deputy mayor last night. 20 May 2008