A Liberal Democrat election candidate has apologised after a selfie he took in front of a crematorium furnace, and used as his Tinder profile photo, appeared online.
Josh Mason took the photo at the Kirkleatham Memorial Park and Crematorium near Yarby.
The selfie shows Mason in front of the opening to the furnace, and was obtained and posted by Political Scrapbook.
The 26-year-old is standing as MP for Redcar in this year’s general election, replacing current Liberal Democrat MP, Ian Swales, who is standing down.
In a statement, said told BBC North East he “regretted any offence I may have caused”.
“Being born and bred in Redcar and Cleveland, I imagine that one day, Yearby Crematorium will be my own final destination.
“My visit there was a stark reminder of our shared mortality. Indeed, I have already said a last ‘goodbye’ to a number of family friends and colleagues there.
“Nevertheless, I deeply regret any offence I may have caused.”
As BBC correspondent David Rhodes said, the forthcoming election will likely be rife with similar social media stories, as parties try to discredit candidates – so we may well see more dating app-related political stories in the coming months.
And if you haven’t read Jon Ronson’s great piece on social media shaming, where he interviews IAC’s former PR director Justine Sacco, do so here.