The acting chairman of the UKIP party in Scotland has stepped down after appearing in court, charged with a string of sex offences.

Arthur Thackeray, 55, from Glasgow, faces six charges of "communicating indecently" over the telephone.

Some of the charges relate to alleged phone calls, with sexual activity audible in the background, while prosecutors claim that one of the offences took place on a phone in Hamishes' Hoose, a pub in Paisley.

All six charges are alleged breaches of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which states that it is an offence “to send a sexual verbal communication to another person without their consent”.

Thackeray, along with David Colburn MEP, has been a notable presence for UKIP north of the border, taking up his position as chairman after party infighting led to several key UKIP figures standing down.

Often courting media attention with public statements that blurred the lines between the robust and the incendiary, he once claimed Glasgow City Council was for "gays, catholics [and] communists".

Last year his public profile was boosted when he featured on a BBC Scotland debate panel alongside Labour's Kezia Dugdale and SNP's Stewart Hosie in the run-up to the 2015 General Election.

Subsequently standing in Glasgow East constituency, Thackaray eventually came in at fourth place with 1105 votes.

Thackeray appeared in private at Glasgow Sheriff Court last week, where he made no plea or declaration.

He was granted bail by sheriff Anthony Deutsch and is expected do return at a later date.

It is believed that Thackeray has since stood down from his post at UKIP.