A COUNCILLOR who was called out by Jeremy Vine over a Facebook claim that cyclists were “a blight on our roads” has said the post was made by his son.

On Saturday, the Facebook account belonging to Conservative councillor Geoff Rutland posted that people who ride bicycles “just get in the way of proper paying road users”.

The post was highlighted by BBC radio host Jeremy Vine, who pointed out that Cllr Rutland sits on Lewes District Council.

The Argus: BBC broadcaster Jeremy VineBBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine

The post said: “Cyclists are a blight on our roads and just get in the way of proper, paying road users!!

“If you ride a bike - stay off the road!”

Twitter users blasted Mr Rutland as “ignorant” and said he “misunderstands how roads are funded”.

However, Cllr Rutland claims he did not post the comments himself, but by his son who had got hold of his Facebook details.

The Argus:

He said: “I was working all day on Saturday. When I’m with clients, my phone is off.

“My son thought it was really funny to log on to my account and post some stupid things as a joke, which, of course, backfired terribly.

“I have since changed all the passwords so he can’t get into my account and he has apologised.

“It was a bad taste joke that backfired and blew up in his face.

“The whole thing has been blown completely out of proportion, completely out of context.”

Other historical Facebook posts from the councillor’s account, who represents Seaford Central, have since surfaced.

These include a video of John Wayne “shooting cyclists”, posted with the comment “got the b*****d”.

Cllr Rutland said: “This thing about John Wayne, it was 2016 so before I was a councillor, it was five years ago, I didn’t create that video, it was doing the rounds on social media and lots of people forward it around.

“There was others in the series - there was one with a sniper with athletes falling over. It was meant as a bit of humour, a bit of banter.

The Argus:

“I’m not anti-cycling, I never have been. I think there should be more cycleways and more people cycling so you end up with a healthier population and a lot less CO2.”

Leader of Lewes District Council and Leader of the Green Group, Zoe Nicholson, said: “It’s silly thing to do and say in public give he’s a councillor.

“But this is more about the culture within the Conservative group, one that clearly doesn’t prioritise cycling, walking and active travel.”