A PARISH priest has been removed from his post after a complaint was made to church bosses that he harassed a former altar boy online.

Father Frank King was rebuked by the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal, over a series of messages he sent on Facebook to Tony Moore.

Mr Moore, 29, was left stunned after Fr King, 50, began bombarding him with messages asking to meet up.

The priest contacted him online and repeatedly asked him to go out for dinner or meet up at his house.

When Mr Moore, a hairdresser, did not reply to the messages, Fr King, the priest at St Aidan's church in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, tried to call him several times.

Mr Moore and his family held a meeting with Bishop Toal where they showed him the messages and raised concerns about Fr King's behaviour.

Church bosses said Fr King had been warned about his use of social media and he has now been relieved of his duties.

Parishioners were informed that Fr King would not be conducting services when they attended Mass at the weekend.

Mr Moore, of Wishaw, told how he met Fr King briefly in a restaurant last May when he was dining with a mutual friend and the churchman later added him on Facebook.

He said: "When he first added me on Facebook I wasn't really sure who he was.

"He sent me a couple of messages just asking how I was which I replied to just to be polite.

"But then I got a message from him asking me to come to his house to have a drink. I thought it was a bit strange and I didn't reply.

"I then couldn't believe it when I looked through his Facebook photos and saw he was a priest."

He added: "I hadn't heard anything from him for more than a year but then last month I was sitting in a restaurant with my friend and he started messaging me on Facebook.

"He was saying things like 'We need to get together', 'Why don't you come to mine' and 'Don't be shy'. They were inappropriate and provocative.

"It continued for three days. I was getting messages at all times of the day and night.

"I found it really creepy and I couldn't believe I was being pestered like this by a priest. I had given absolutely no indication that I was interested in meeting up with him."

Mr Moore, his mother and sister attended the meeting with Bishop Toal last week.

He added: "The bishop looked through the messages but he never wrote anything down about what they said and then he asked me if I was surprised by it.

"He said he would speak to Fr King and get back to me.

"He said Fr King had said he thought he remembered me from when I was an altar boy as a child and that's why he had added me on Facebook. I have no memory of him.

"The bishop then said he had told him the messages were inappropriate and that it would not be happening again."

A spokesman for the Diocese of Motherwell said: "This matter was not referred to the police, the priest concerned was asked to exercise care when using social media."

It also emerged at the weekend that a priest from Perth has been suspended over historic abuse allegations.

Father Tom Shields has been ordered to stand down from his duties while police probe the claims.

The Catholic Church called in police after the allegations emerged against Shields, the priest at St John the Baptist church in Perth.