A parish councillor has quit and been reported to police after allegedly posting racist tweets about England football players.
Paul Bradbury, a member of Pontesbury Parish Council in Shropshire, told the BBC his account had been hacked.
He is accused of writing ‘whites only in future England teams’ on Facebook after Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missed penalties in the Euro final.
The councillor is said to have then added: ‘F*** taking the knee’.
Further outrage was sparked online when another post allegedly read: ‘Black lives f*** up England again’.
Police confirmed a man in his 60s from Minsterley has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and remains in police custody.
Council leaders held a meeting with police yesterday afternoon, and have confirmed Bradbury’s resignation has been accepted.
A spokeswoman said: ‘Pontesbury Parish Council is aware of comments made on Facebook [allegedly] by a former member of the parish council.
‘They are made by an individual not representing this council. We found these comments strongly offensive, and do not tolerate racism of any kind.
‘The council have reported this serious matter to the police and are currently assisting them with their enquiries. The council distances itself from these comments.’
Chief inspector Mark Reilly said: ‘We want to be absolutely clear – we have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination in all forms, including online abuse. We will investigate reports and act.’
The Football Association has warned that any fan who spreads ‘disgusting’ racist abuse is ‘not welcome in following the team’.
Prince William said he was ‘sickened’ by the slurs faced by players after the defeat to Italy.
Boris Johnson has also condemned the vile posts, telling those responsible to ‘crawl back under a rock’.
Home Secretary Priti Patel came under fire after saying she was ‘disgusted’ by the online onslaught.
England player Tyrone Mings said: ’You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism messages as “Gesture Politics” and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against happens.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
