A LibDem candidate who made "clearly and unambiguously anti-Semitic" comments on social media has been suspended from the party.

Waheed Rafiq was standing as the LibDem candidate in the Birmingham Hodge Hill constituency.

But a party spokeswoman said he had been suspended from the party this afternoon, describing the online posts as "clearly and unambiguously anti-Semitic".

The timing is potentially awkward for the LibDems, coming on the same day as the party's manifesto launch.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon attacks Jo Swinson's nuclear weapons stance

A party spokeswoman said: "At 3pm Waheed Rafiq Hodge Hill PPC (prospective parliamentary candidate) was suspended from the party.

"The public posts on his Facebook and Twitter account from 2010 to 2014 are clearly and unambiguously anti-Semitic and bring the party into disrepute and are also of material disagreement with the fundamental values and objectives of the party."

READ MORE: Another Tory candidate suspended over anti-Semitism claims

Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl added: "The only response to the disgusting anti-Semitism exhibited by Waheed Rafiq, by the Liberal Democrat candidate for Birmingham Hodge Hill, is to immediately drop him as a candidate for the constituency.

"We call on the Liberal Democrats to act now and ensure he is expelled after he is dropped as a candidate."