IS this cartoon “appallingly offensive”? It features Basildon mayor Mo Larkin with a camel toe which contains a mobile phone and Conservative council leader Tony Ball,

Essex Police are probing the matter following the mayor’s complaint. She saw Camel Toe Mo – Camel Toe On Parade ..in Basildon when it was e-mailed to all councillors and senior officers at Basildon Council.

The ‘Parade’ part of the video’s title is related to the above photograph of Mayor Larkin at Armed Forces Day in Basildon, on June 29. She appears to be looking at a mobile phone while receiving a salute from troops.

The council ordered a member of staff to spend 42 hours trying to find out who took the picture. The investigation cost the taxpayer £1,000.

The “culprit” was not identified.

Cllr Larkin explained:

“What happened was my partner was ill in the morning. We had been on holiday in Barbados and he had been bitten by a mosquito. We had been back for just under a week and he wasn’t well. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to go to the ceremony but he said he had to go out on business anyway.  He passed out on the motorway and the police were calling me from his phone. My phone kept ringing and ringing. I didn’t answer it. I took it out of my bag and I was trying to turn it off but I couldn’t see it properly because the sun was shining directly on it, so I put my hand on it to try to turn it off.”

The Brentwood Gazette added:

Says Mrs Larkin:

Is it really that bad? It’s sexist and crude. But isn’t a bit funny?