AN investigation has been launched by Durham Police into a restaurant manager's claims his account on the social networking site Facebook was hijacked.

Zak Ahmed, manager of Spice Island, in Barnard Castle, said he received threats and abuse after being accused of posting an inflammatory statement on a right-wing campaign group's website in the days after Drummer Lee Rigby's murder in Woolwich.

Mr Ahmed, from Darlington, said he had nothing to do with the post and believes it can be traced back to problems he experienced with his Facebook account in March.

“I know it was hacked because when I tried to get on I could not get into my account,” said Mr Ahmed.

“I reported it, but when I got it back, I had a lot of extra 'friends' and every single one was a member of this far right group.

“I blocked all those people and reported it to police in Darlington. I laughed it off – all my friends knew about it.”

In early May, Mr Ahmed's home was attacked in what police say is an unrelated incident.

“Then the day after Drummer Rigby's death, someone spread a post that had been made in March after my account had been hacked making me out to be something I am not,” added Mr Ahmed.

“That spread round the town very quickly and I received calls from people threatening me. I did not know what was going on or what it was all about.”

Mr Ahmed said the offending post turned out to be a screenshot, which he showed to police.

He then wrote a lengthy statement on his Facebook page in an effort to clarify the situation.

“I was in bits – I had to defend myself. There have been hundreds of people who have offered their support and without that I could not have come back to work.”

A spokeswoman for Durham Police confirmed that an investigation into reports of Mr Ahmed's account being hacked is ongoing.

She added: “In relation to a separate incident which happened in the early hours of May 4, at Mr Ahmed’s home, two men have been charged with public order offences, including a racially aggravated harassment charge.”

The accused, aged 26 and 40, are both from Darlington. Both have been bailed to appear at Darlington Magistrates court on June 6.