A Conservative Chislehurst councillor called a member of the public who feels Dominic Cummings broke the Government's lockdown rules an 'imbecile'.

Suraj Sharma believes the special advisor "broke no rules" by travelling to Durham and subsequently taking a day trip, claiming "the mainstream media, Leftwaffe" and MPs "jumped the gun."

The insult, now deleted, was in response to Sally Burgess, a 65-year-old who argued "it's not exceptional circumstances to have one four year old to look after with a sick parent."

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Ms Burgess, who lives in Powys, Wales, said: "Frankly, I'm disgusted though not surprised.

"Very glad I don’t live in his council area. It made me wonder if that was the sort of response that his council would approve of."

Mr Cummings is under fire for travelling up to Durham with his family at a time when he was required to self-isolate due to his wife suffering suspected coronavirus.

Around two weeks later he then took a day trip to Barnard Castle, 30 miles away, allegedly to determine whether he could see properly.

The PM has backed his chief aide, who addressed the nation in a press conference yesterday, claiming his justification, the pursuit of childcare, was valid.

Cllr Sharma's 9,000-plus Twitter followers make him one of the most prolific social media-using councillors in south-east London.

He was approached for comment.