A former DUP mayor has quit the party after being charged with child sex offences.

Thomas Hogg, 31, was arrested in the grounds of dance music festival VFest36, in Newtownabbey, Belfast.

The park where he was arrested is owned by Antrim and Newtownabbey Council, of which he is the former mayor.

Mr Hogg has been charged with sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause or incite children between 13 and 16 to engage in sexual activity.

He is set to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court later this month to face the charges.

The DUP said it had suspended Mr Hogg on Wednesday morning ‘pending the outcome of a court case’.

A party spokesman said Mr Hogg subsequently resigned from the party with immediate effect.

Mr Hogg served as mayor of Newtownabbey from 2014-15.

He was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to local government.

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