The Conservatives have been accused of "appalling cynicism" for winning a council by reinstating a councillor who was suspended for a "racist" Facebook post.

Rosemary Carroll, who made a post comparing an Asian man with a dog last June, rejoined "as the votes were being counted" in Pendle, Lancashire, on Friday.

It gave the Conservatives 25 seats - just enough to take control of the council.

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Congrats to the Tories for taking control of Pendle council by reinstating Rosemary Carroll. pic.twitter.com/atGP30W9lj — Kate le Vann (@katelevann) May 4, 2018

Group leader Paul White said the post was shared "in error" and that Ms Carroll "fully accepted the potential upset caused".


She has since "sincerely apologised" and completed "diversity training", he added.

Ms Carroll, a former mayor of Pendle, previously claimed she meant to delete the post but accidentally published it in error.

She was suspended for three months in August 2017 and continued to sit as an independent afterwards.

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Image: The Conservatives have gained a majority on Pendle Council

The leader of Labour's group in Pendle, Mohammed Iqbal, described the situation as an "appalling state of affairs".

"She turned up with a Conservative rosette literally as the votes were being counted," he said.

Anti-racist organisation Hope Not Hate said the timing of her reinstatement was "clearly motivated by political arithmetic".

Chief executive Nick Lowles told Sky News: "This appallingly cynical move for short-term political gain will lead many to question the commitment of Pendle Conservatives to challenge racism.

"Coming so soon after the Windrush debacle, the admittance that the Home Office had deliberately created a hostile environment for immigrants and the prime minister's refusal to allow visas for foreign doctors to work in the NHS, it is easy to see why support for the Conservatives amongst minority communities is so low.

"Even Donald Trump received a greater share of the minority vote in the presidential elections than the Tories achieved in last year's general election."

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Image: Hope Not Hate's Nick Lowles called it an 'appallingly cynical' move

A Conservative Party spokesperson has yet to confirm reports that a newly elected Conservative councillor in Sunderland has also been reinstated.

Antony Mullen was suspended for calling his local area a "post-apocalyptic ****hole" and branding Labour MP Diane Abbott a "filthy, bulbous pig".

He later said: "I wish to state that I did not at any time intend to cause offence to anyone."

Theresa May's party lost 33 councillors in the local elections this week, but held key Labour targets of Wandsworth, Swindon and Westminster.

It also won back Barnet, which it controlled until a few weeks ago when a councillor defected.