Mark Halsey and Graham Poll, two former Premier League referees, were embroiled in a bitter war of words on Tuesday following criticisms from Halsey that a number of current top-flight officials are not up to the required standard.

Halsey retired at the end of last season but has since questioned the ability of certain Premier League officials and Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL), the organisation in charge of referees, for "creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia" within officiating.

The 52-year-old claimed a number of current elite referees are not good enough and also said that statistics used by a US company were used to examine the performances of officials, potentially resulting in pay and bonus cuts.

PGMOL did not respond to Halsey's criticisms of the referees' chief, Mike Riley, and his assistant, Keren Barratt, when approached. However Poll, who represented England as a referee at the 2006 World Cup, believes Halsey is "betraying" the refereeing fraternity who are "appalled" at his recent actions.

"He is 100% betraying what paid him a living he would never have earned as the warehouse manager he was or the taxi driver he was," Poll told Talksport. "The refereeing fraternity are absolutely appalled at what he is doing. He hasn't thought it through. Mark has got to take a long, hard look at himself. He won't. I know the guy. I have known him for years. He is that type of character."

It did not take long for Halsey to launch a riposte, claiming some of Poll's comments over his career have been unworthy. "I've not let the profession down. If anybody is letting the profession down, some of his comments over the years have been atrocious," said Halsey. "I found that 'unfitting' from him what he's come out with. But that's Graham. We don't get on and I don't like the way he's done things over the years."