A man hoping to be elected as a local councillor insists he is not behind online posts targeting the local council, politicians, and minorities.

Chris Warren is hoping to be elected as the new independent councillor for Saltford on Bath and North East Somerset Council in a local by-election on January 16.

He has insisted he is not behind an account on X (formerly Twitter) which has called the council “utter reprehensible s***bags” and called council workers “w***stains.”

Among these tweets, the account has also tweeted several selfies of Mr Warren, images taken inside and outside his home, and made references to Saltford and being chair of the local parish council.

Mr Warren chaired Saltford Parish Council for seven years. In response to one tweet from another account asking what “death threats” women use, the account tweeted a four second video of Mr Warren putting on a mock-feminine voice.

But Mr Warren insisted it was not his X account. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “People can get images of people, can’t they? Drop them in and do all sorts of stuff.”

He said: “It ain’t me. So if someone’s putting stuff out there, I didn’t do it. I don’t know. […] I’ve been trolled.”

The account, under the name The Ghost of Dominic Grieve, has tweeted frequently since 2019. Tweets from the X account have called Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch a “dopey looking mare,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner “thick as pig s***,” and former Green MP Caroline Lucas “a Green r***rd.”

Mr Warren laughed as he was read these tweets by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Asked if the tweets reflected his views, Mr Warren said: “No.” He then added: “I find them quite funny. I do find some of them quite humorous.”

In response to a video of a woman saying: “We need less George Floyds and Jordan Neeleys in this world,” the account responded with two thumbs up emojis and the words: “Absolutely amazing.” A tweet about Mohammed Iidow, who raped and killed an NHS worker, described him as “sub saharan scum.”

Mr Warren previously stood as an independent to be one of Saltford’s two councillors at the 2023 Bath and North East Somerset Council elections. He was beaten by just 33 votes by Liberal Democrat Alison Streatfeild-James — the councillor whose resignation triggered the by-election.

Mr Warren said: “I thought I’ll stand again and see what happens.”

He has been a major voice in the campaign to bring back Saltford Station. He said: “I’ve been campaigning for the station for a long time and been badly let down by local politicians.”

He also warned that Saltford and the district’s outlying villages had become “a dumping ground for development” and said he wanted to challenge the plans for bus lanes on the A4. He said: “These bus lanes are going to be a nightmare.”

Also standing in the by-election are: