Kingston Council leader Kevin Davis has apologised after calling a sixth-former an “appalling little child” for questioning him over a perceived conflict of interest.

In a statement released in a personal capacity, Cllr Davis admitted he made a mistake, and apologised for rising to the “attack”.

He said: “I am a father first and politician second. This past weekend my son was used as a political tool to attack me on social media, and I reacted in a way that any father would; I defended my son's right to privacy. In doing that I let my passion get the better of me and I attacked the author.”

He was referring to an exchange on Twitter when 17-year-old Coombe Sixth Form pupil James Giles asked about whether Cllr Davis’s son’s job at CNM Estates, a prominent developer in Kingston, represented a conflict of interest.

CNM is listed as a previous client of Cratus, a PR firm co-founded by Cllr Davis (his Linkedin profile states he worked there from 2009 to 2015).

Cllr Davis responded to the tweet, saying: “What an appalling little child you are. Who the hell do you think you are dragging my family into your vile conspiracy stories?

“I would hope that when you grow up you might realise how disgusting this is, sadly I doubt it.”

A Twitter user also posted what appears to be a screenshot taken from Facebook of Cllr Davis calling Mr Giles “vile”.

But Mr Giles has claimed he is yet to receive an apology for the outburst.

In his own statement, he said: “Mr Davis has not apologised for his language, which was bullying and abusive. He has only apologised for ‘rising to the attack’.

“Let me be clear – I have not attacked anybody. I asked a simple question of my elected representative and faced a torrent of abuse in return. Mr Davis is attempting to justify bullying and abuse – let me be clear: this behaviour is inexcusable and unjustifiable.”

Cllr Davis responded to accusations of a conflict of interest by saying: “Were I ever to sit on a committee which was taking a decision about any matter pertaining to a company for which a relative of mine worked I would, of course, declare that interest.

“If it was a financial interest or there was the appearance of bias, I would withdraw from the meeting. If it was a financial interest or there was the appearance of bias, I would withdraw from the meeting. If there was no financial interest and no appearance of bias, I could stay and vote.”

A petition calling for Cllr Davis to resign as leader of the council over the exchange currently has 760 signatures.