Neighbours of the singer-songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg have received hate mail calling on them to force him out their village because of his socialist beliefs.

Up to 30 anonymous letters have been sent to the residents of Burton Bradstock in Dorset accusing Bragg of being a hypocrite for enjoying a wealthy lifestyle while espousing socialist views.

Bragg believes the letters are the work of a disgruntled BNP supporter and has urged his neighbours to bin them.

Simon Holdcroft, who runs the village post office, received one of the typed letters. "It was quite bizarre and was a racist rant at Billy Bragg," he said.

"We thought we were the only ones to have been sent it but over a few days it became clear that about 20 or 30 people had also got one.

"A lot of the people were quite horrified by it. It wasn't overly aggressive and didn't include death threats but it wasn't nice.

"The letter claimed he was anti-British, pro-immigration and called him the village fool." Holdcroft said Bragg had done a lot of good in the village.

"Mr Bragg has been in the village for a long time and has done a lot of work here and supports activities."

Karen Broad, who also received one, said: "I think everybody was just rather shocked by the letter. It was so vindictive and terribly cowardly."

In 2001 Bragg set up a website to encourage tactical voting to oust Tory MPs in Dorset. Last year he campaigned against the BNP in Barking and Dagenham, where its leader, Nick Griffin, stood unsuccessfully.

Bragg said he believed a BNP supporter was behind the letters. "It is clear from the content that this anonymous letter has been written by a disgruntled supporter of the British National party," he said. "I have campaigned against the Tories in West Dorset for the past 10 years, but they have never stooped so low as to randomly circulate hate mail in the hope of undermining my credibility. This pathetic attempt at intimidation reminds voters that the BNP are not like any other political party – their methods betray them.

"Fortunately, the BNP are a busted flush, their divisive politics rejected by the electorate at the last election, their organisation now collapsing into in-fighting. This letter is nothing more than the powerless ranting of a bitter individual who is angry that, even in a sleepy village like ours, people reject the politics of racism.

"I'm sorry if anyone who received this letter was disturbed by its contents. My advice to any recipients is to throw it in the bin where it belongs. I will continue to campaign against racism wherever I find it, comfortable in the knowledge that, after 11 happy years living in Burton Bradstock, people here have already made up their minds about me, one way or another"