THE City of Sydney council is preparing to hit back against a secretive campaign by venue owners in Sydney against plans to clamp down on violent pubs and clubs, which depicts the lord mayor, Clover Moore, as a witch who is trying to ''close Sydney''.

The council has received thousands of letters of complaint via a website, www.nannastate.com.au, protesting against proposed changes to the city's late night trading rules. It comes after the Today FM radio show host Kyle Sandilands, who also owns a stake in several Sydney bars, said last month that he wanted to ''get rid of'' Cr Moore.

Kyle Sandilands ... outspoken against Clover Moore.

''I'll get rid of that woman, you watch. Eighty-year-old woman trying to run the town. Go to the retirement village, you old clown,'' Sandilands said on his program.

The website depicts Cr Moore as a fairy tale-style witch, complete with green skin and a pointed hat, and shows Sydney icons such as Centrepoint Tower being swallowed by vines.