A county councillor who uses twitter to 'express freedom of speech' has defended his tweets which have been branded 'inappropriate' by social media users.

Seán Holden, a Kent County Councillor and borough councillor for Tunbridge Wells, has come under fire on the platform for tweets challenging religion, political views and people's tributes to loved ones who have died.

One tweet from December 18 had people asking if it was appropriate for an elected official to question the intentions of a widower announcing the tragic news of his wife's death.

Much-loved Nicky Ratcliff, 44, from Faversham, died in December after courageously fighting cancer for four years.

She gained huge popularity through her Twitter account ‘Nikki Stix’, where she amassed almost 30,000 followers.

When she sadly lost her battle with the disease, her husband Mike used her twitter account to share the tragic news with her dedicated followers.

The Tweet said: "Hello all. This is Nicky's husband Mike. I've never tweeted before but here I go. Just to let everyone reading this know that Nicky died early this morning.

"She was totally calm and I held her hand the whole way through. She had no pain at all and she's finally at peace."

In response, Cllr Holden said: "Have you got a picture of Nicky? Where are you if we want to send flowers?

"Tell us more about poor Nicky, about her children and her work so we can feel closer to her. She didn't die of Covid did she? How old was she?"

When told about the reply by KentOnline, Mr Ratcliffe said the message came across as 'a bit inappropriate' and he would rather focus on the thousands of positive messages about Nicky.

He added: "I've got no intention of answering any of those for him - I don't know this guy. In the context, I could feel that they're a bit inappropriate, or just unnecessary.

"I don't personally feel any kind of animosity. I'd only really question why is he asking me those things?

"Everyone who knew Nicky on Twitter knows everything they need to know. Nicky often commented on her family life in whatever way she felt necessary, or wanted to do.

"She often mentioned what Ivy [their daughter] was up to, but I'm certainly not going to offer anything to anyone about my family.

"There's a slight sort of presumptuous tone. It doesn't sound very professional, to me."

When asked about his intentions, Cllr Holden explained the tweet had been sent in good faith and could be read out of context but he had a genuine interest in knowing more.

He said: "I’m sorry if people were offended by that, I don't think it was rude and I just wanted to know about the person I was being asked to sympathise for.

"I have seen a lot of fake news about people announcing deaths just for reactions so when I see these tributes, I want to find out if they are genuine.

"I am a former journalist and I used to write obituaries so I have an interest in knowing this information about people."

But it's not just the replies to tributes that have been deemed controversial, Cllr Holden is also vocal about challenging religious beliefs.

Replying to one tweet about the existence of Jesus, he wrote: "Believing 'what I think is right for me' means nothing except a validation of voices in the heads of madmen."

Explaining his words, Cllr Holden said: "Whatever I say I have a policy of never insulting or attacking people, I will only criticise the idea, not the person.

"I strongly feel that it's important all ideologies including religion should be open to criticism. Sometimes that can be satire, comedy and indeed mockery and freedom of speech is important in that respect.

"People say things to me about my political beliefs and call me names like 'Tory scum' and I don't get offended by those.

"People think I shouldn't have these opinions because of my job but my answer to that is vote against me at the ballot box."

Others on the social media platform have called his words 'appalling'.

After replying to a similar tweet about the loss of a loved one where Cllr Holden called the announcement 'weird' and 'fake', one user said: "This is an utterly appalling tweet from a borough, and Kent county councillor. Shame on you."

Another added: "You abused religion, you bullied someone who said their wife had died, who do you care about?"

Read more: All the latest news from Tunbridge Wells