LABOUR Party members across Worcester are warning against military action in Syria - saying Jeremy Corbyn is right to be cautious.

The Labour leader is today embroiled in talks with his shadow cabinet about potentially offering them a free vote on airstrikes as a crunch decision looms in the Commons.

Yesterday senior Labour officials claimed to have polled 107,000 members and said "75 per cent" were against bombing - with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell insisting the position vindicated Mr Corbyn's views.

Many Labour councillors in Worcester say they share the same concerns despite acknowledging it is causing divisions.

Councillor Adrian Gregson, who leads the city's Labour group, said: "What we haven't got from (David) Cameron is a clear strategy on what airstrikes would mean, what numbers he has on the ground, what his exit strategy is.

"It's interesting he can't even get all his own side to support him, despite all the criticism and abuse Jeremy Corbyn is getting from the PLP (Labour MPs).

“And it’s ironic that this won’t be David Cameron’s decision, it largely rests with what Jeremy Corbyn is saying.

"Airstrikes alone won't solve the situation. I am very cautious about it."

Fellow Labour Councillor Paul Denham said: "Personally, I am not convinced bombing will help resolve the situation, it won't stop IS (Islamic State) from attacking us and will make it more likely we'll be attacked.

“If you take out IS headquarters it won’t guarantee anything, we've seen this before with Iraq.

"It's far more important we increase our security in the UK and our intelligence.

“It's not like we can take them all out and that's the end of the matter, this is a very diffused terrorist organisation.

“I agree that it would be outrageous to have a ‘party line’, if you try that you’ll alienate very large numbers of people, I think it’d be offensive to force people to vote against what they believe.”

Former city mayor Councillor Roger Berry, also from Labour, said Mr Cameron "doesn't have a strategy by a long shot".

"I'm supporting the idea of a free vote, I do think the party is probably divided by this as is the country," he said.

"There are grounds for not bombing but equally we do have to do something about IS - I just think he doesn't have a strategy by a long shot."

Fellow former city mayor Councillor Pat Agar, whose father and uncle served in the RAF, said she was torn about it but didn't entirely share Mr Corbyn's stance.

“My father and uncle were ex-RAF, and the RAF always was and still is, at the sharp end of foreign policy,” she said.

“So I’m in a slightly different position. There is a strong pacifist streak in Labour which I respect, but that’s not the case here.

“My experience makes you really cautious, nobody wants to go to war, that would be a stupid thing to want.

“I don't think Cameron has fully made the argument, but I could foresee a situation where I said 'yes, we should go’.

“I don’t entirely agree with Jeremy Corbyn, he’s in a very difficult place ideologically on this.”

Labour Councillor Richard Boorn said he did back bombing, insisting he felt it was "about the country and not the party".

“I think the case has been made, we should do it – part of the problem is that we’re talking to ourselves, this isn’t about the Labour Party, it’s about the country,” he said.

The Labour Party said it had carried out a "consultation" on the issue over the weekend, and that it had received 107,875 responses of which 64,771 were confirmed as full Labour members.

The Government is attempting to persuade MPs to back extending UK air strikes aimed at so-called Islamic State into Syria.

David Cameron says he will hold a vote on air strikes only if certain he has the clear support of the Commons, saying losing the vote would hand the Islamic State group a propaganda victory.