THE Scottish Conservatives have been forced to suspend one of their candidates after he was found to have made bigoted remarks about Catholics online.

Greg Turner, who is standing to become a councillor in East Renfrewshire, hid behind the username "MearnsUnionist" on a number of footballing forums, according to reports in The Daily Record.

He was found to have referred to a local Catholic high school as a "bigot factory," and described Catholics as "papes".

In one post, he described what he viewed as a change in the Stamperland neighbourhood in Clarkston following the opening of St Ninian's high school in nearby Giffnock.

He said: "A lot of pape families moved in so they could get their kids to the best performing bigot factory in Scotland."

He added: "Obviously there's still a decent amount of good guys in that area too, but there's definitely been an infiltration over time."

In another post, the account posted: "Barrhead has by far the biggest population of mentally challengeds in East Renfrewshire."

A spokesperson for the Conservatives said: "This candidate has been suspended after a number of completely unacceptable posts emerged."

The Daily Record reports that Turner will no longer be supported by the party but his name will still appear on ballot papers as the deadline to withdraw nominations has passed.

He is currently still listed as a candidate on the East Renfrewshire Conservatives’ website.