POLICE have charged an Inverclyde councillor with assaulting a traffic warden.

Innes Nelson has been reported to the procurator fiscal following an alleged incident in Cathcart Street in Greenock on Friday.

The 60-year-old is accused of assaulting a warden after he was given a parking ticket.

Mr Nelson, who represents ward six, will continue as a councillor but has voluntarily stepped down from the local SNP group pending the outcome of the allegation.

He said: "I am confident that I am innocent of the charge Police Scotland have made against me.

"However, whilst this matter is sub judice, I do not want it to distract from the vital work the council has to concentrate on during the coming months and therefore have made the decision to step aside from the SNP until I am cleared of any wrongdoing."

Mr Nelson, who lives in Inverkip, is a former SNP group leader and has been an elected member since a by-election victory in 2009.

Councillor Chris McEleny, the current SNP council group leader, said: "Innes has been an upstanding councillor for many years and is a respected member of his community.

"This is naturally a distressing time but I am sure he will continue to serve his constituents well whilst waiting on a positive outcome from the procurator fiscal."

Although the incident is alleged to have taken place on Friday it was not reported to the authorities until Monday.

The traffic warden did not require medical assistance.

Sergeant Kayley Teasdale, of Greenock police, said: "A 60-year-old man is subject to a report to the procurator fiscal in connection with an alleged assault on a 49-year-old man in Cathcart Street, Greenock, on October 20."