Donald Trump has shared videos tweeted by the deputy leader of far-right group Britain First purporting to show Muslims committing crimes.

The US President retweeted three posts by Jayda Fransen on Wednesday.

The posts included unverified videos titled "Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!" and "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!"

Fransen, 31, from Penge, south-east London, is on bail facing four charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment as part of a Kent Police investigation into the distribution of leaflets and the posting of online videos during a trial held at Canterbury Crown Court in May.

She will also appear in court in Northern Ireland in December charged with using threatening and abusive language in connection with a speech she made at an anti-terrorism demonstration in Belfast on August 6.

Mr Trump, who is known for his unguarded messages on social media, has 43.6 million followers on Twitter.

In June this year, a Press Association analysis found Facebook and Twitter had failed to take down a number of misleading videos posted by Britain First despite them having received hundreds of thousands of views.

Videos posted by the nationalist group often target minority groups, and PA analysis found they consistently posted false claims about the circumstances being shown - including untrue claims that Muslims and migrants had attacked women and police.

The retweets were met with criticism on Twitter.

Brendan Cox, widower of MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a right-wing extremist, said: "Trump has legitimised the far right in his own country, now he's trying to do it in ours. Spreading hatred has consequences & the President should be ashamed of himself."

Paul Joseph Watson, the UK-based editor of far-right conspiracy website Infowars, said: "Yeah, someone might want to tell whoever is running Trump's Twitter account this morning that retweeting Britain First is not great optics."

A tweet from Fransen's account, which is verified by Twitter, appeared to celebrate the retweets.

She said: "THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DONALD TRUMP, HAS RETWEETED THREE OF DEPUTY LEADER JAYDA FRANSEN'S TWITTER VIDEOS! DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

The first video, which Fransen claimed shows a Muslim migrant attacking a Dutch man on crutches, was also shared by one of Mr Trump's most vocal supporters, conservative commentator Ann Coulter.

The other two videos appear in Fransen's timeline but not in sequence.

Brexit minister Lord Callanan said Mr Trump may have not been aware of the "appalling" nature of Britain First, but said the incident showed the president should be "more careful" in his tweeting.

The Conservative peer told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "Britain First is an appalling organisation and there is no excusing the things they stand for.

"I can only assume that he has made a mistake and that he did not realise who Britain First were. Most people in the UK don't know who Britain First are.

"I'm not excusing it. He clearly needs to be more careful what he tweets to 44 million followers. This is manna from heaven for them - we are doing exactly what they want in publicising them and giving coverage to their awful views, and Trump has helped them in that."

Lord Callanan said the incident should not affect Mr Trump's invitation to visit the UK, insisting the Government needs to "separate out the man form the office" and show "respect for the office of the President of the United States".

But Labour's Tracy Brabin, who succeeded the murdered Jo Cox as MP for Batley & Spen, said Mr Trump would not be welcome in the UK.

Ms Cox's attacker was said in court to have shouted "Britain first" during his attack last year.

Ms Brabin told World At One: "These retweets are incredibly troubling.

"He has shown such lack of leadership over the months that he has been President of the US, but this just beggars belief, justifying this organisation.

"This hatred has consequences and we know more than any in Batley & Spen what those consequences are."

She added: "Absolutely the Government must get involved in this. We are not holding this man's hand, we are challenging him and holding him to account."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on the Government to respond to Mr Trump's retweets.

"I hope our Government will condemn far-right retweets by Donald Trump," said Mr Corbyn. "They are abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society."