An aide to mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has been suspended for allegedly posting sexist and homophobic comments on social media.

Shueb Salar, a parliamentary assistant to Mr Khan, is said to have posted a string of offensive messages on Twitter in 2012.

The tweets are littered with offensive language including references to ‘f****ts’ and ‘hoes’.

One of the tweets suggested that the way to “treat a lady” was to “buy her a nice iron and extend the kitchen for her”.

Mr Salar started working for Tooting MP Mr Khan in 2014, some two years after the tweets were posted.

Mr Khan is the bookies favourite to win the mayoral election in May.

But his main rival, Richmond Park and north Kingston MP Zac Goldsmith, is not far behind him in the polls.

A spokeswoman for Mr Khan said: “Clearly these are serious issues. Shueb Salar has been suspended from Sadiq Khan’s parliamentary office pending an investigation.”