A Scottish town has broken off its relations with the Faroe Islands in protest against this year’s “disgusting” killing of over 400 pilot whales.

Wick, a coastal in the far north of Scotland closer to the Faroes than to London, has been twinned for 20 years with Klaksvík, the second-largest community in the Faroes. But the islanders’ traditional whale hunts have sickened civic leaders who fear that their association with the remote archipelago could also affect their own tourism.

Caithness SNP civic leader councillor Gail Ross and two colleagues have written to Jógvan Skorheim, mayor of Klaksvík, to say the traditional whale hunts were not something that her town “should be associated with”.

In an email, Ross said: “I and my two ward colleagues make reference to the recent slaughter of whales which took place in Bøur and Tórshavn, amongst other areas and whilst we note that this is not Klaksvík, I am afraid that the whole of the Faroe Islands has been tainted by these events.

“We do not agree that these events and the apparent joy it gave the townspeople is in any way or should in any way be linked to tradition. There may have been reasons of culling for food in the past but in 2015 it is unnecessary and cruel.”

She said that whales had feelings and emotions. “To drive them on to a beach and slaughter them in front of their family members is nothing short of barbaric,” she said.

Skorheim has now replied to what he describes as the “ultimatum” from Wick. He said: “If you’re asking us to choose between being twinned with Wick and our Faroese right to conduct sustainable whaling, you should know that this choice is not hard for us to make.

“However, it disappoints me to hear, that you are prepared to sever links with Klaksvík.”

The move by Wick follows a decision by two German cruise line companies to suspend visits to the islands because of the hunts. Hapag-Lloyd and AIDA have said they are seeking alternative destinations and have urged the islanders to halt the practice.

The Faroese have strongly defended this years’ hunts, saying the traditional practice of rounding up pods of pilot whales in the summer months and has been carried on for 1,000 years. They argue that the population lives closer to nature and that they eat the whales. “If the Faroese did not maintain these connections with their own food, much more would have to be imported,” it says on a website about the practice.

“Faroese people from all walks of life also keep sheep, hunt birds and participate in whale hunts in their spare time. This would also have a significant extra impact on the environment, considering the fuel needed for transport.”