A local councillor was trending on Twitter over the weekend after tweeting that Boris Johnson was "on the frontline" of the UK's response to the invasion of Ukraine while the Prime Minister was in Oxfordshire.

Cllr Joe Porter, who represents the Brown Edge & Endon ward for the Conservative Party at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, tweeted on Sunday: "Our Prime Minister @BorisJohnson on the frontline with our Armed Forces coordinating the UK's response to the invasion of Ukraine. True global leadership! #StandWithUkriane [sic]".

The tweet attracted a significant response, with many criticising the use of the word "frontline" to describe Boris Johnson's recent visit to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, as shown in the image Cllr Porter posted along with the tweet.

At 1pm on Sunday, the word "frontline" was the second highest trending term on Twitter in the UK, with over 36,000 tweets detected containing this word.

One said: "Rural Oxfordshire can be pretty raucous, but hardly the frontline."

While another added: "To try to spin that as the frontline is both disrespectful to Ukrainians and grossly self-serving."

Following the response Cllr Porter deleted the tweet and replaced it with another tweet, which instead said: "Very proud of our Armed Forces who are working hard, backed by @BorisJohnson, to help Ukrainians in their greatest time of need. This is our country at its best. #StandWithUkraine".

On Sunday evening Cllr Porter also responded to the criticism of his original tweet.

He said he had received "death threats and personal attacks" following the tweet and added that he had spent the day "leading important community projects" as part of his role as Cabinet member for Climate Change at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

He said: "While lots of people decided to waste their day sending me death threats and personal attacks, I spent most of my day leading important community projects in the Staffordshire Moorlands that will help to leave our environment in a better state than we inherited. A fulfilling day."

It is not the first time Cllr Porter has attracted a significant response on Twitter. He also received over 7,000 replies last year after saying Boris Johnson "cannot be personally blamed" for the UK's 100,000 Coronavirus-related deaths.

It came after a press conference in which the Prime Minister said he took "full responsibility" for the government's actions throughout the pandemic, adding that he was "deeply sorry for every life lost".