An SNP council leader has hit out at what he claimed were "bigoted insults" after he indicated that he felt Rangers were a new club.

Christopher McEleny, leader of the SNP opposition on Inverclyde Council, came under fire from Rangers fans after he announced on Twitter that Morton had become "the second most successful team in Scottish league football with only Celtic having won more league titles than us".

He was celebrating Morton being crowned Scottish League One champions as they recorded a 3-1 victory over Peterhead.

When challenged that Rangers had won more, he responded: "Only won two."

He later said to one fan: "Not taking anything away from you, mate you've did well to get to the Championship in your first two season."

The row comes after football supporters had launched a campaign calling for Brendan O'Hara to stand down as the SNP's candidate for Argyll and Bute after using the word 'h**' about Rangers fans on a Celtic forum.

Morton's title win means the Greenock side have won ten championships across the Scottish divisions. They have never been champions in the top tier of Scottish football.

The comments provoked a fresh row over claims the Rangers are now a totally different club after the oldco's liquidation in 2012.

One tweeter said McEleny was "the latest SNP figure to have a pop at Rangers".

Another said: "What a detestable person. You sure know how to make voters hate the SNP."

When the council leader was asked why he was deleting tweets, he responded: "Just the ones that have attracted bigoted insults at me."

The accusation was denied by Rangers fans who challenged him over his remarks.

Rangers fans group Vanguard Bears has criticised the SNP over the weekend for taking no action over Mr O'Hara's use of the word 'h**' in 2007 and 2008.

The SNP said Mr O'Hara apologised for any offence caused by the use of the word but had no intention of stepping down.

Vanguard Bears said: "Still no action from the SNP - a clear endorsement of bigotry from Scotland's so-called anti sectarian party."

More than 2700 have supported an online petition which calls on SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to take action over Mr O'Hara.

It was previously revealed that a campaign supported by the Rangers fans board has already been lobbying the First Minister to make the use of the word 'h**' illegal following the online abuse of pop singer Amy Macdonald.

The campaigners say 'h**' is a term of "religious hatred, a derogatory and sectarian term for a Protestant".

The campaigners say those using the phrase should be treated no differently than those who use offensive words to describe Catholics.

Mr McEleny later posted a photograb on his Twitter feed from a Rangers fans forum where one poster said: "Some kh**** will do anything to get the catholic vote. You know what to do Bears when it comes to the elections."

Another said: "I've been saying it since the Referendum - the SNP are fascist scum."