Cheltenham man charged over Clarke Carlisle tweets

A man has been charged over allegations racist tweets were sent to two football players.

Ben Townsend, 25, of Norwich Drive in Cheltenham, is accused of two counts of sending offensive messages under the Public Communications Act.

The tweets were sent to Northampton Town's Clarke Carlisle, who is chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association, and Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Mr Townsend is due to appear before Cheltenham magistrates on 21 June.

The tweets were sent after Northampton Town beat Cheltenham Town in the second leg of their League Two play-off semi-final.

The matter was jointly investigated by Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire Police.

Akinfenwa was released by Northampton Town earlier this week.