AN SNP election candidate sparked a Twitter storm after he accused a Tory MSP he believed was encouraging Rangers fans to publicly celebrate their league victory of having "blood on your hands".

The tweet (pictured below), which he later deleted, saw Councillor Paul McLennan branded an "imbecile" and "not fit for office" by MSP Murdo Fraser.

East Lothian Courier: The tweet by Councillor Paul McLennan, which has since been deleted

Mr Fraser, the Scottish Tories' finance spokesman, had congratulated Rangers FC yesterday on becoming champions.

But Mr McLennan, a ward councillor for Dunbar and East Linton and the SNP's Holyrood candidate for East Lothian, was unhappy at hundreds of fans celebrating outdoors without socially distancing.

In reply to Mr Fraser's celebration tweets, Mr McLennan said: "You are an utter disgrace – public health and the thousands who have died mean nothing to you? Blood on your hands."

Rangers fan Mr Fraser replied: "This man is an imbecile – delete your account."

He also said that Mr McLennan, a former leader of East Lothian Council and a supporter of Hibernian FC, was "not fit for office".

Mr McLennan told the Courier today: "It was not meant to cause any offence and it was certainly not aimed at Rangers fans.

"I thought he (Mr Fraser) was encouraging people to go out and celebrate when they should not have."

Among Mr Fraser's many tweets about Rangers was a plea for fans to "celebrate responsibly".

Rangers' first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years sparked wild celebrations in many parts of Glasgow yesterday, with concerns raised at a lack of social distancing among the party-goers.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon took to social media to congratulate Rangers on their triumph but said that "gathering in crowds just now risks lives, and could delay exit from lockdown for everyone else – if those gathering care at all about the safety of others and the country, they will go home".

Ms Sturgeon then later tweeted that she "shared folks' anger" at the lockdown-breaking supporters.

"Everyone has made so many sacrifices in the past year and seeing a minority risk our progress is infuriating and disgraceful," she said.

"It is deeply unfair to the entire country and the police have a hard enough job already."

There were some small public celebrations in East Lothian by Rangers supporters, with some residents unhappy at fireworks being let off in the Prestonpans area yesterday afternoon.