A Reform councillor has apologised and called the sharing of offensive social media posts "clumsy" which used an ableist slur and called Islam "barbaric".

Cllr Paul Harrison, who represents Coalville South and is currently a cabinet member at Leicestershire County Council, shared a number of Facebook posts on Monday (July 27) which said Islam was "not a religion" but a "primative, barbaric, seventh-century totalitarian ideology".

Cllr Harrison wrote on the shared post, saying it was a "good start to understand this distinction". The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has chosen not to publish this post.

Another post also shared said they "miss[ed] when leftists were tree huggers and not Islam-loving r*****s" to which Mr Harrison said: "Hee hee, me too".

The posts have since been deleted by Cllr Harrison, who has branded their sharing "clumsy" and a "mistake". He also said he "wouldn't be making any more social media posts in the future".

He told the LDRS: "I can't remember what they were, but I'm going to take myself off [social media] now because it's just not worth it.

"It was a clumsy share. I'm against terrorist organisations and the militant ones on it. I'm not against Islam or the people that follow it".

When challenged by the LDRS about sharing the slur, Cllr Harrison said the word "wasn't always bad" and it "wasn't his intention" to offend by sharing the post.

Cllr Harrison said he wanted to apologise for "any misguided upset" he may have caused, but pointed out that the page he shared it on did not represent the county council's views, and that the content he shared was his own views and opinions.

However, when challenged about the use of the 'Cllr' moniker on the Facebook page that shared the posts, he said that he "didn't disagree" with the point.

He added: "I regret that I may have upset some people. I don't know the category of people that I've upset, as I have deleted them as soon as I was notified".

Mr Harrison later said that he had "heightened awareness" that came from the recent Berlin Pride Islamic terror attack.

He continued: "For me, it's about how we target these people running into pride events like in Germany?

"We've got our own pride in Coalville coming up so I've asked various authorities if they have done their own risk analysis.

"I'm just trying to look after my residents and the people where I stand. It can happen anywhere".

The LDRS asked the county council if any complaint had been lodged against Cllr Harrison. A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: "Any complaint received about the conduct of an elected member is considered in line with our Member Code of Conduct and the agreed complaints process.

"It wouldn't be appropriate to comment on individual complaints or whether a complaint has or hasn't been received."

A Reform spokesperson has been contacted for comment.