Councillor quits after 'offensive Tweets' suspension

Birmingham City Council said it could confirm Mr Payne had resigned as a councillor

A councillor has quit his post following suspension by the authority's Conservative group over allegations he tweeted "offensive content" from a social media account used anonymously.

The opposition Tory block on Birmingham City Council said as soon as it was made aware of the allegations, Rick Payne was suspended pending further investigation.

It added it could not comment further due to safeguarding issues.

The authority confirmed Mr Payne - who represented Kingstanding - had since resigned as a councillor.

A spokesman for the Conservative Group said it had been made aware of allegations, first reported by Birmingham Live, that Mr Payne had "an anonymous Twitter account" from which he tweeted "offensive content".

Explaining that Mr Payne was a former soldier who had in the past shared "the absolute horrors" of what military personnel had been through "and the mental health scars it leaves", the spokesperson added: "We are reaching out to speak to him to discuss the allegations and to offer specialist veterans support while the matter is investigated."