A Conservative councillor has been suspended after tweeting asking for Nazanin Zaghair-Ratcliffe to be sent back to Iran.

Bexley councillor John Davey sparked outrage online after suggesting the country should send the British Iranian national back and "get our money back".

Mrs Zagahir-Ratcliffe was imprisoned in Iran for more than six years before her release earlier this year.

Cllr Davey has now deleted the tweet, and his Twitter account, following a backlash which has also seen him suspended from the local Conservative group.

Replying to a tweet about Mrs Zagahir-Ratcliffe's activism work, he wrote: "Can we send her back and get our money back?"

Mr Davey was previously a governor at the Bedonwell Foundation, but has since been removed from the role following his tweet.

The school said: "As of Monday, October 10, councillor Davey is no longer a Governor at Bedonwell."

Bexley Labour called for its Tory counterparts to condemn the councillor, describing his thoughts as "disgraceful".

Aaron Newbury, chairman of the Erith and Thamesmead Conservative Group, explained: "I have suspended Cllr Davey's membership locally following a complaint.

"We have passed this on to the CCHQ complaints team for further action."

Former Labour candidate for Falconwood & Welling, Jeremy Fosten, revealed he had emailed a complaint to the Conservatives and Bexley council about the tweet.

He slammed the comments as "unacceptable", in poor taste and said they could be seen as "racism and xenophobia".

A spokesman for Bexley Council said: "We are aware of this issue, which we have referred to the council’s officer responsible for dealing with complaints against councillors.

"The matter is currently under review under the Members’ Code of Conduct complaints handling procedure. A decision will be made in line with the procedure."