A Conservative county councillor has been suspended from the party pending an investigation into social media posts on the subject of Muslims living in the UK.

Cllr Paul Messenger, who represents Ramsgate on the County Council, is facing an inquiry over the posts made on Facebook several years ago.

The posts suggest that the threat posed by Muslim communities is greater than that faced by the IRA.

In one post, attributed to his Facebook page, it says: “Let's not fool ourselves here; The Muslim Communities living in Britain would like to see the whole country Muslim. Whether this is achieved by violent or stealth - they would prefer this - it’s natural and you could argue within their rights to do this. After some considerable thought I have come up with this suggestion - given that MI5 have to commit considerable resources Into the protection and prevention of ‘home grown’ Islamic threat far more than when the IRA were doing their worst to us, then I believe the peaceful British Islamic Society should pay for this extra cost.”

In another post apparently made by Mr Messenger in 2014, it read: “My fear is that are we sponsoring through child benefit and other welfare payments large Muslim families that twenty years on there will be enough of them to launch an Isil type takeover.”

A spokesperson for the Kent Anti-Racism Network claimed that there have been complaints about Mr Messenger’s behaviour in the past but these have been ignored.

They said: “The Conservative former cabinet minister Baroness Warsi has said her party has 'turned a blind eye' to prejudice and become 'institutionally Islamophobic'. We believe this is true and people like Paul Messenger are proof of this.”

Cllr Messenger confirmed to KentOnline that he had been suspended for inappropriate social media posts but denied that he was responsible for them and denied he was a racist.

He said that he had been the victim of someone who had hacked into his timeline and had posted the messages on his Facebook page, using software to create false screenshots.

He said: "They are fake and I haven't said these things. I can't comment on where these have come from. I do not hold those views and I'm at my wits end. I am not a racist. I am gobsmacked."

He added: "I do not know where this is coming from but there are some people out to destroy me. All I have tried to do it work hard for my constituents."

Cllr Messenger was elected to Kent County Council in the 2017 election and represents the Ramsgate division.

He is also a candidate in the forthcoming Thanet District Council election in May where he is standing in Margate. However, his suspension means that he will Not to be able to contest the election and will have to sit as an independent until the investigation is resolved.

The news follows the revelation that the conservative leader of Swale Borough Council, Cllr Andrew Bowles, had also been suspended over a tweet in which he supported the right of the leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson to outline his controversial views on social media.

Cllr Messenger has been approached for a comment.