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Former Bristol UKIP chairman Steve Wood has asked for leave to appeal a decision from the High Court which ordered him to pay tens of thousands of pounds in damages over a child grooming tweet, which he says will financially ruin him

Mr Wood has asked the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge the judgement which was handed down last month.

It related to a Tweet posted on the Bristol UKIP Twitter account — three days before the General Election on May 4, 2015.

The post was written and posted by John Langley - the branch's vice-chairman at the time.

It featured a photo of Rotherham businessman Zahir Monir and another individual standing either side of Labour MP Sarah Champion.

Underneath the picture was the statement: "Sarah Champion labour candidate for Rotherham stood with 2 suspended child grooming taxi drivers DO NOT VOTE LABOUR".

It was published to @BristolUKIP's 547 followers, re-tweeted at least 17 times, liked at least eight times, published on the official Bristol UKIP webpage and published on Facebook.

The tweet was eventually deleted weeks later, but Mr Monir claimed the damage was already done as it had spread widely.

Mr Monir said his property had been egged and a brick thrown through a window, and he had been called "Jimmy Savile" by another parent at the school where he was previously a parent governor.

In December a High Court judge awarded £40,000 in damages and costs to Mr Monir over the “completely false and highly damaging allegation”.

At the time Mr Wood vowed to appeal the decision and said he would be financially ruined.

Mr Wood has now submitted an application to the Court of Appeal asking for permission to appeal the decision.

Paul Wong Chun Yi, a partner at Humphreys & Co. solicitors, which represents Mr Wood, said: "The High Court decision as it stands may have far-reaching consequences for all officers of voluntary clubs and associations as regards their liability for the actions of their volunteer members".