A LABOUR councillor and former Lord Mayor has denied making disparaging remarks about a fellow candidate in the Bradford West election campaign.

Councillor Naveeda Ikram said comments circulating on social media where she appeared to insult the Somalian background of Amina Ali had come from a fake account.

Mrs Ali had been selected to stand against Respect leader George Galloway on Saturday, but announced she was stepping down yesterday for family reasons.

Political opponents had been sceptical about the reasons for her withdrawal, citing Labour's in-fighting as the reason for her change of heart.

In a statement on her Facebook page, Cllr Ikram (Lab, Little Horton) posted: "Dear Friends, since yesterday conversations being shown being circulated on social media.

"I want to clarify that it is a fake profile that is easily made and circulated to bring me down.

"This is not the first time such false profiles have been created and deactivated.

"I've reported it to the police and I am having this investigated.

"Being a woman and being in politics is not an easy task. However such challenges have to be faced gracefully

"I hope social media users who get hold of such information will be more responsible and not promote such material.

"Thank you for all the kind messages."