UKIP’S Dudley North candidate Malcolm Davis has hit out at the town’s electorate after he came fourth in the General Election.

Mr Davis polled 3,267 votes (eight per cent) but the St James's ward councillor, who has been a prolific antimosque campaigner over the last few years, said he feels badly let down by Dudley voters and will now be taking a “back seat”.

In a letter to the Dudley News, Mr Davis – who said he had made himself ill over work – added: “It is almost unbelievable that after the support I have shown to the people of Dudley, for the second time I feel I have been let down badly.

“No one will ever know the amount of abuse and condemnation I have had to put up with over the support I have given to what I thought was the majority in our town.

“It would appear I was wrong because the only time proper support can be shown is at the ballot box.”

And speaking to the News about his campaign against a new mosque, Mr Davis said: “The campaign has cost me politically, as well as everything else and I have had lots of stones thrown at me from all directions.

“I hope everybody who has asked me for my support appreciates how much work I put into this.

“ I am still suffering from the election and I don’t know what to think of it anymore.”