Coun Thomas – who ousted Labour stalwart Jack Kershaw by 29 votes in May's election – wrote on his website: "I've dozens of knives at home and not one has killed anybody because I've never put them to that purpose.


"I have a huge meat cleaver and two massive machetes, bought as much because I found them cool as their practical use."
Wakefield Council leader Peter Box has said Coun Thomas should quit his post as councillor.
He said: "The glorification of violence is all the more offensive when it comes from a teacher and supposed community leader.


"Clearly Coun Thomas should resign from the council with immediate effect and I am calling on council colleagues to support this."
Teacher Coun Thomas, 27, also called for tougher sentencing for knife crimes and said people were the problem, rather than blades in his blog Knife Knowing You.


He told the Express: "I've been misquoted and have no intention of quitting as a councillor on the basis of misrepresentation.
"My blog was a post criticising knife crime and outlining that we need tougher sentencing but at the same time saying that what we must not do is blame knives rather than people.
"The more we stop considering people as the problem the bigger the problem will get."


To see Coun Thomas' blog visit http://philtforpontefract.blogspot.com/2008/07/knife-knowing-you.html.

See next week's Express for the full story.