AN aspiring Tory councillor who hit the headlines for waging war on Runcorn’s kebab shops claims he was 'verbally attacked' at last week’s local election results.

Iceland cashier Daniel Clarke, who is gay, has reported being the victim of a hate crime to Cheshire Police over 'disgusting' comments he believes were made in reference to his sexuality.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the complaint was received and said they are making enquiries into the incident.

The self-described working class Tory claims someone at the count, held at Halton Stadium last Thursday, called him a 'racist dog whistler' over an article in which he spoke about cracking down on the proliferation of takeaways in Runcorn.

READ MORE > How Halton voted in local elections

He then claims the man made a vulgar reference to his supposed preference for a particular sex act, which he believes was homophobic in nature.

The 31-year-old, who was with his fiancé at the time, believes the crude comments were a reference to his sexuality and reported them as a hate crime to Police.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:  “I had just walked in. He looked at me quite aggressively.

“[The comments] made me feel angered. It’s a cross between being angry and shocked, the fact that in the 21st century people come out with stuff like this.

“I’m getting treated like garbage. I did feel a little threatened by him for the rest of the evening. ”

A spokesperson from Cheshire Police said: “Police have been made aware of an incident at Halton Stadium on Thursday 2 May.

“A 31-year-old man has made a complaint that another man has made a comment which he believed was a hate crime.

“Police are making enquiries into the circumstances.”

Mr Clarke suffered a  stinging defeat  in his campaign to become a conservative councillor for Mersey, Runcorn, at Thursday night’s count.

In the run up to the local elections he said he had a 'personal vendetta' against takeaways and vowed to crack down on the amount of fast food shops populating Runcorn’s Old Town if elected.

However his hard line stance on kebab shops failed to win  over the hearts and minds of voters.

The contentious Mersey seat was held by long-standing Labour councillor Norman Plumpton-Walsh, who won by a majority of 301 votes.

The Lib Dem candidate came second with 348 votes, while Mr Clarke came in last with just 179.

Speaking ahead of his defeat, Mr Clarke admitted his campaign had received  “mixed reviews” on the door step and said he did not expect to win the seat.

But the defiant Iceland worker, who has stood in every election for the last four years,  said he had no plans to give up the fight to become a councillor.

He said: “Regardless of tonight I will be campaigning in future elections on issues that I think people want at the time.

“I have had mixed reviews [on the door step]. Some good reviews, some not so good reviews which is expected, but all I can do is just give people a reasonable discussion and arguments and try to convince them.”