A Tory councillor has been suspended after sharing a mocked up image depicting Jeremy Corbyn at the scene of the Liverpool hospital terror attack.
Cllr Paul Nickerson, of East Riding Council, in Yorkshire, faced a furious backlash over the doctored image of the former Labour leader holding a wreath next to an image of the burning taxi.
He posted the picture online with the comment, "unsurprisingly", on Monday night. He later deleted the tweet.
Tory group leader Cllr Jonathan Owen said he had been suspended with immediate effect for the "inappropriate and offensive" post.
Cllr Nickerson was alluding to a row in 2018 over pictures of Mr Corbyn attending a wreath-laying ceremony at a Tunisian cemetery in 2014, when he was accused of honouring the masterminds of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
Mr Corbyn insisted he was paying tribute to the memory of those killed in a 1985 Israeli air strike in Tunis.
Cllr Nickerson was accused of trivialising the terror attack in Liverpool, where 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen died after an explosive device detonated in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.
He has now deleted the image, tweeting: “I would like to apologies for a political tweet sent from my account yesterday which has been upsetting for some people and I unreservedly apologise to all concerned.”
Cllr Nickerson told The Mirror that his social media account had been hacked and new security has now been put in place.
He declined to comment further.
Labour's Karl Turner branded his post "grotesque" and said it needed to be investigated immediately.
The Hull East MP said: "Anybody would be utterly disgusted that any elected member of any political party would make light of a terror attack on mainland Britain on the very day that our Home Secretary [Priti Patel] has had to raise the threat level."
In a statement, Cllr Owen said: "Following an inappropriate and offensive message which appeared on Councillor Paul Nickerson’s Twitter feed, I have suspended him from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council Conservative Group with immediate effect and an investigation will now take place.
"All people in public life, irrespective of politics, should be united in condemning the terrorist attack that took place outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday.
"It is not the time for inappropriate remarks, however intended, and they will not be tolerated in this Conservative Group. Residents should expect their elected representatives to act in an appropriate manner at all times."
Police are investigating the Liverpool hospital explosion, which has been declared as a terrorist attack.
The UK's terror threat level has been raised from substantial to severe following the incident, meaning an attack is "highly likely" rather than "likely".
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, Jtac, are now increasing the United Kingdom's threat level from substantial to severe.
"And there's a reason for that, and that reason is because what we saw yesterday is the second incident in a month."
