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The chairman of Cheshire's policing watchdog said he had "no intention" of resigning after a row about whether police should be allowed to wear a lanyard supporting the LGBT community.

Some members of the county's police and crime panel and the police commissioner have urged Bob Fousert to step down.

Mr Fousert said his questioning of a senior officer's rainbow-coloured lanyard was "never intended to be an attack upon the LGBT community".

But he was sorry it "seemed" that way.

At a meeting of the Cheshire police and crime panel that he chaired last week, Mr Fousert said Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke's lanyard was an "overtly political statement" in conflict with regulations requiring police officers to be politically neutral.

Ms Cooke is national lead on LGBT issues for the National Police Chiefs Council.

'Pilloried and castigated'

Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane said Mr Fousert's views were "outdated" and "inappropriate".

In a written response, Mr Fousert said it was "unfortunate, even sad, that when someone makes an observation or comment with regards to LGBT issues they are often treated by some sections of the community like heretics, to be vilified, pilloried and castigated."

He wrote that the public's perception of police impartiality should not be "eroded by being seen to favouring one section of the community over another".

Five of the 13 members of the panel have signed a letter calling on Mr Fousert to resign because his questioning was "wholly inappropriate".

"It is now more important than ever that our police service takes seriously its obligation to the LGBT community", they wrote.