A COUNCIL chairman has been thrown out of his political group after making a string of 'deplorable' comments on Facebook.

Blaenau Gwent Councillor Mark Holland has been removed from meetings of the Independent group and has relinquished his position as chairman of the the environment, regeneration & economic development scrutiny committee.

It came after comments on the Six Bells ward councillor’s Facebook page caused controversy in the lead up to the EU referendum.

One post about the EU referendum, shared by Cllr Holland, said: "This open door policy was initiated by the Germans who are now being blackmailed by the Turk's (sic), some people really need to wake up and smell the coffee before we Europeans are wiped out!

"Most of the migrants (who are illegal) are young men ready to take up arms against us, who are raping white European women because they consider them trash and of no value."

Articles from the far-right party Britain First were also shared, as well as posts from Stop Islamization of the world.

Cllr Hedley McCarthy (Lab, Llanhilleth) said the views expressed in the posts, which were later remove, were “deplorable.”

“It is irresponsible to say the least,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“These sort of views are deplorable. He is an experienced councillor and he has been elected to represent all types of people.

"You can’t go having these prejudices. Everyone should be above that, but particularly when you have been elected as a representative.”

A spokeswoman for Blaenau Gwent council said: "Cllr Holland will not be attending meetings of the Independent group at Blaenau Gwent Council for the foreseeable future.

"As a result, Cllr Holland will no longer chair the council’s Environment, Regeneration and Economic Development Scrutiny Committee."

After coming to light, the posts were also criticised by Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith.

Mr Smith said: "Cllr Holland has made racist assertions which are wrong. As an elected representative he should know better, be more tolerant, and be respectful of others."

Cllr Holland was contacted but declined to give a comment.

The Independent Cllr was first elected as Labour councillor in 1999 to Cwmtillery ward. He failed to get re-elected in 2008 and left the party, before rejoining and being re-elected in 2012.

But in 2015 he quit the party for a second time, citing 'serious concerns' over the council’s new recycling policy and Jeremy Corbyn's election as party leader.