COUNCILLORS have called for the immediate resignation of a colleague who is standing by comments he made wishing to ban any Muslims from joining Ukip.

Tom Hind, a Ukip councillor on Hartlepool Borough Council, also said he believed Islam was “not a religion” but a “political ideology” in a post on Ukip’s regional organisers' Facebook page.

Fellow Seaton ward councillors, Paul Thompson, independent, and James Black, Putting Hartlepool First, have written an open letter following the publication of Cllr Hind’s comments in The Northern Echo.

In their letter, Cllrs Thompson and Black, said: “We read today in the Northern Echo the comments attributed to yourself regarding the Islamic faith."

Branding his views "narrow minded, ignorant and ill formed", they added: “We wish to completely disassociate ourselves from you and the comments that you have made. You do not represent other Seaton Ward councillors or the views of good, honest Seaton residents that you claim to represent.”

The pair said they have written to Hartlepool Borough Council’s chief solicitor to request their ward surgeries in Seaton are separated from the Ukip councillor.

The open letter concluded: “We therefore call on you to immediately resign your position as a Councillor on Hartlepool Borough Council and crawl back into the ignorant vacuum where these types of opinions belong.”

Speaking to The Northern Echo on Wednesday, Ukip group leader at the Hartlepool authority, Councillor John Tennant, said: “It is not [Ukip’s] policy to force someone out of the party based on their religious beliefs.”

Cllr Hind’s comments were condemned by Mike Hill, Labour candidate for Hartlepool in next week’s General Election, as well as Conservative candidate Carl Jackson and Liberal Democrat candidate, Andy Hagon.

However, Cllr Hind has said he will stand by his “personal and private” remarks.