A Tory councillor is facing calls to resign for failing to properly apologise for “Islamophobic” comments made online.

Waltham Forest councillor, John Moss, was suspended from the Conservative Party in June this year for a tweet he posted in 2015.

Moss, a councillor for Larkswood ward, responded to a tweet about journalist Douglas Murray winning an ‘Islamophobe of the Year’ spoof award from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, writing: “An ‘Islamophobe’ is by definition somebody frightened of Muslims. Maybe we should nominate every 11 year old girl?”

He was suspended from the party after a complaint was submitted in May 2019.

Cllr Moss apologised for the tweet and promised to visit the Imam at Chingford Mosque – his local mosque – to offer a “personal apology”.

In a statement on Twitter he said: “I accept that on a number of occasions my comments were disrespectful and inappropriate. They were not intended to be malicious, but they were careless. I apologise unreservedly for those comments and have removed them.”

His suspension was lifted in July after he completed diversity and anti-bias training.

However, the Waltham Forest Council for Mosques (WFCOM) – which represents Chingford Mosque – claims Cllr Moss has not visited to apologise.

Cllr Moss admitted he had yet to visit and said he had instead sent a local Conservative campaigner – also a worshipper at the mosque – in his place as he did not have the Imam’s contact details.

The campaigner, Moufazzal Bhuiyan, said: “Because I always go to the mosque during prayer time he said as a Muslim I can contact them.

“They said to me John is not cooperative with them and that they are not interested in contacting him."

A spokesperson for Chingford Mosque said: "We can confirm that Moufazzal Bhuiyan called one of our trustees and passed on apologies from John Moss and his offer to donate money to a charity of our choice.

"However, we do not accept John Moss’s apology or his offer to provide money to a charity of our choice, given the abhorrent nature of his comments and the lack of effort shown to reach out to the mosque, directly, in a way that reflects the seriousness of what he has said."

A spokesperson for WFCOM added: “The mosque and local Muslim community can only conclude that John Moss is not sorry for his Islamophobic comments. We ask that John Moss is now expelled or does the honourable thing and resign so we can get a local councillor who can represent the whole community in Larkswood ward without prejudice.

“We once again call for a full review of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. Islamophobia is a serious issue and calls for more than a token online apology.”