A COUNCILLOR has resigned after a campaign group claimed the Conservative Party member had links with a far-right organisation.

Councillor Tim Wills, from Worthing Borough Council, officially resigned his seat on Friday, October 15.

The Marine Ward councillor was accused by Hope Not Hate of sending private messages in a Telegram chat group for the nationalist and white supremacist organisation Patriotic Alternative.

Hope Not Hate claimed he joined a regional group chat on the encrypted messaging app in June this year.

An investigation was subsequently launched by the council.

A statement from the council said: “Cllr Wills is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Council under its Code of Conduct procedures following remarks he is alleged to have made in an online forum run by an organisation called the Patriotic Alternative.

“He had already been suspended by the Conservative Party pending an investigation.

“In accordance with procedures the vacancy on the council will be advertised on this website in due course.”

The investigation follows an announcement from the Conservative Party that Cllr Wills had been suspended from the party pending the outcome of an investigation.

Patriotic Alternative, formed in 2019 by former director of publicity for the BNP Mark Collett, is described by Hope Not Hate as a "racial nationalist and fascist organisation that seeks the removal of ethnic minorities from the UK".

The group reportedly promotes white nationalism, with some members supporting Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories around "white genocide" and claims that the LGBTQ+ community are a danger to children.