MUSLIM women who wear burqas were compared to "walking black post boxes" by a Keighley councillor who also called for Muslim culture in Britain to be banned.

The comments, made by Keighley town councillor Samuel Fletcher last week, were condemned by one member of the public, who described Cllr Fletcher's views as "abhorrent".

Cllr Fletcher, speaking earlier this week, now accepts his post boxes comparison was "crass", adding he also regretted his statement about banning Muslim culture in Britain.

But he stressed the point he was trying to make is that full-face veils can be intimidating and inappropriate in certain public situations, claiming 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 just pretty appalling that a publicly elected representative of the people would air these views in public, or have them at all.

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

The Keighley News was sent a screen shot image of the online comments, and understands Cllr Fletcher made them on Facebook last Tuesday, (May 16) during an exchange with people debating Muslim women's clothing.

Cllr Fletcher also attacks Muslim women's head scarves – known as 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 in order that men will not sexually assault or rape her.

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

Later in the same exchange, Cllr Fletcher adds: "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.

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

Cllr Fletcher said 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 added: "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 the Keighley Town Council clerk said: "The council has a social media policy which must be adhered to by all councillors.

"They are reminded that when they post any 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 use of social media, and there is a 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 the Bradford Council’s Standards Procedure."

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

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

Back in 2014 he found himself in the eye of a political storm caused by late-night messages on his Facebook page, in which he implied enjoying an adulterous affair with a married mother in the town.

Cllr Fletcher acknowledged he had posted the comments, but denied they were true.