A COUNCILLOR has been censured for comparing Muslim women wearing burqas to “walking black post boxes.”

Keighley town councillor Samuel Fletcher also called for Muslim culture in Britain to be banned.

The comments, made last week, have been condemned and described as “appalling.”

Cllr Fletcher has this week accepted his post boxes comparison was "crass", adding that he also regretted his statement about banning Muslim culture in Britain.

But he stressed the point he was trying to make was that full face veils can be intimidating and inappropriate in certain public situations, noting that plenty of people would agree with this.

Keighley's new mayor, Cllr Mohammed Nazam, branded Cllr Fletcher's online posts "disgraceful and abusive".

Carl Walters, 30, who saw Cllr Fletcher's comments online last week said: "It's pretty appalling that a publicly elected representative of the people would air these views in public, or have them at all.

"I don't know how he thinks he's representative of the population of an area as diverse as Keighley."

Cllr Fletcher made the comments on Facebook last Tuesday, May 16, during a debate about Muslim women's clothing.

He also attacked Muslim women's headscarves – hijabs – even though these do not usually cover the face.

He wrote: "Absolutely ban Muslim culture in our British Isles because we are not a Muslim country.

"What is offensive about burqas and hijabs is that women are told, made or even forced to wear them in public by men, because in Islamic culture, if a Muslim woman is sexually attractive, she must cover herself so men will not sexually assault or rape her.

"Their theory is that women must cover themselves because if they are not covered then men cannot trust themselves, or be trusted, not to have sex with them."

Later in the exchange, Cllr Fletcher added: "It's in Keighley where one has seen these walking black post boxes! And Bradford for that matter."

Mr Walters, who previously lived in Yorkshire but is now based in the East Midlands, said: "The fact this is the third or fourth time Cllr Fletcher has been a fool on social media shows his lack of responsibility.

"I'd hope residents of his ward consider that next time they go to the ballot box."

Cllr Fletcher said that if Mr Walters objected to his stance he could easily have engaged with him online on the day he made the comments, instead of contacting the media.

He said: "If he lives in the East Midlands I don't quite understand what this man has got to do with Keighley. I'm elected by the people of Keighley, not the people of the East Midlands."

A statement from Keighley Town Council's clerk said: "The council has a social media policy which must be adhered to by all councillors.

"They are reminded that when they post comments on social media under their ‘Councillor’ title, it must clearly state that the views represented are the views of the councillor and not of the council.

"Cllr Fletcher has failed to add the disclaimer to his comments, and furthermore has breached the Social Media Policy which has brought the council into disrepute. He has failed to comply with the member’s code of conduct.

"He was reminded recently about social media use, and there is currently an outstanding complaint for the council to consider taking further action.

"Cllr Fletcher will be requested to remove the content immediately from Facebook, and is advised to issue an apology."

Cllr Nazam said: "Cllr Fletcher’s comments were disgraceful and abusive to the Muslim community and in particular discriminatory to Muslim women.

"I assure everyone that Cllr Fletcher's comments were his individual views and not those of Keighley Town Council.

"A formal complaint will be submitted and dealt with under Bradford Council’s Standards Procedure."

Cllr Fletcher, who represents Bracken Bank and Ingrow, attracted controversy in 2015 after he was removed from town council committees for discussing confidential council staffing matters on social media.

Earlier that year he resigned from UKIP after a Labour Party leaflet quoted him as stating on Twitter that he favoured scrapping the NHS.