TUV leader Jim Allister has reported Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards after he shared a lewd comment about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on his Twitter page.

Mr Allister claims the Fermanagh-south Tyrone assembly member breached the MLA Code of Conduct by re-tweeting the comment on Monday evening before news was announced of the birth of the Royal couple's first child.

In his letter to the Commissioner for Standards today, Mr Allister wrote: "By re-tweeting an offensive and entirely inappropriate comment it is my belief that Mr Flanagan has breached the code of conduct and as such requires investigation."

In a statement to The Impartial Reporter, Mr Flanagan apologised for sharing the tweet saying he did so "in a split second error of judgement."