One of the Conservative Party's new vice chairmen has apologised for a blog post he wrote during the London riots in which he appeared to support police brutality.

Ben Bradley, 28, was given the role in Theresa May's latest reshuffle but admitted his outlook had changed since the 2011 unrest thanks to marriage and fatherhood.

Mr Bradley, MP for Mansfield, reportedly wrote in a post during the riots: “We need to come down hard on these morons before somebody gets killed!

"If we have any sense as a nation we’ll stay home tonight and make it easy for the police to find the ones hanging around town centres with their faces covered. For once I think police brutality should be encouraged!”

According to The Times, the posts were written on August 9, 2011 - three days after Mark Duggan was shot by police which sparked the violence in London's streets.

A week later he is said to have added: “What incentive do the police have to forcibly drag looters out of shops, or take down the people throwing bricks at them, when they know that if the kid falls and bangs his head they could end up in prison with their whole lives destroyed.”