ELECTION hopeful Douglas Carswell caused a stir on Twitter after posting a picture of a UKIP flag flying in front of a Walton school.

Mr Carswell put the picture out on Twitter with the message: “UKIP flag flying in Walton” on Friday.

It shows the flag flying in the foreground with Walton Primary School recognisable in the background.

The controversial tweet sparked a surge of replies with several people questioning why the school was flying a political flag.

But Mr Carswell has now confirmed the flagpole is in a private garden, not the school grounds.

He told the Gazette: “It was completely innocent and in good faith. There was a big reaction and some people were quick to become upset, but that was never my intention.

“The school building was in the background and some people drew the wrong conclusion.

“The flagpole is just opposite the school in a private garden, flown by one of my supporters. If I’d known it would cause this kind of kerfuffle I would have taken it from another angle.”

Mr Carswell tweeted again to clarify the situation today.  

The tweet said: “2b clear, this UKIP flag is not flying in Walton school or anything 2 do w/ Walton school. Tis a great flag though!”

Mr Carswell is standing against David Grace (Lib Dem), Chris Southall (Green), Giles Watling (Conservative) and Tim Young (Labour).