This is a bit of a shocker... but really it isn't.

A young Tory student leader has been expelled from the party and suspended by the University of Central Lancashire for making vile homophobic comments online.

Fergus Bowman, a second-year politics and religion student from Lancashire, resigned as chairman of the Conservative Future society at UCLan's Students' Union when the comments, on social networking site Facebook, came to light.

He has since been thrown out of the Tory party by national officials.

Mr Bowman, 22, who lives in Catterall near Garstang, has also been banned from the Students' Union while the university investigates. He has apologised to a student newspaper for his comments.

The comments have now been removed from Facebook, but copies seen by the Lancashire Evening Post show Bowman was listed as the head of a group called "Homos burn in hell".

Its homepage featured a picture of a hooded Ku Klux Klan member beside a burning cross and the remark "everyone knows homosexuality is against God's wishes".

Mr Bowman went on to make a reference to the link between homosexuals and the AIDS virus.

On another webpage, showing an obscene picture of a man exposing his private parts, Bowman wrote: "And people wonder why I'm anti-semetic."

And he branded members of Garstang Country Hotel and Golf Club, which is near his home, as "semi-civilized, illiterate degenerates" on another forum.

The Conservative Party and student leaders have united to condemn Mr Bowman's comments, some of which were made on webpages which anyone could access freely.

A Tory spokesman said: "Fergus Bowman's comments are appalling and we condemn them absolutely.

"He has been expelled from the Conservative party. There's no place for homophobia in today's Britain.

Students' Union president Chris Lowden said: "We are committed to equal opportunities.

"Fergus's comments breached our constitution. We cannot and will not tolerate such material coming out from one of our members."

A UCLan spokesman confirmed Bowman had been suspended from university while an internal investigation is held. It is expected to take two to three weeks.

Ben Wallace, Conservative MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said he did not know the student.

Mr Bowman declined to comment when contacted by the Lancashire Evening Post.

But in an interview with UCLan student newspaper Pluto, he said: "The comments were made as a private joke amongst colleagues in a group. It was not our intention to joke about gay people.

"I regret that the comments have caused offence and I deeply apologise to anyone who has been offended by them. I do not advocate homophobia."