5 March 2026Jason Arunn MurugesuNorth East and CumbriaDarren Grimes/AIDarren Grimes later acknowledged the photo used in his post about housing was AI-generatedThe use of an AI-generated image by a council deputy leader has been described as "fake news" and "inflammatory" by local councillors and an MP.Durham County Council's Reform deputy leader, Darren Grimes, admitted a photograph depicting a group of South Asian men in a housing estate, which he used in a blog about other councils "shipping" families to the region, was created using AI.The authority's Liberal Democrat opposition leader, Amanda Hopgood, said it was "nothing short of disgusting". Green Party councillors claimed it had been aimed at sowing "racial hatred". Grimes said those criticising should focus on the county's problems rather than "the use of AI to illustrate" them.The deputy leader previously told the BBC the AI image of South Asian men was "obviously for illustrative purposes".His article linked the issue of southern councils moving families to County Durham, which the BBC reported on last month, to the region's lengthy social housing waiting list.Hopgood said the relocation of people to County Durham by other councils needed to be taken seriously but this issue did not affect social housing waiting lists as the families were being put into private accommodation."It comes as no surprise that councillor Grimes is once again promoting fake news but to do that with an AI-created photo is nothing short of disgusting," she said.LDRSGrimes said he used the AI image for "illustrative purposes"A Durham resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC he had complained to the council about an AI image used by Grimes in previous online posts about immigration.In a blog, published in November, the deputy leader said County Durham was being used as a "migrant dumping ground" and he did not want the region to be the country's "sponge".The post included an AI-generated image of two white girls playing in a tidy front garden with a group of Asian men outside a dilapidated house next door, overlaid with a picture of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. The resident said the image made it look like someone had taken a picture of a real situation.Darren Grimes/AIThis AI-generated image was a section of a larger composite image used in a blog by Darren GrimesThe two Green Party members on the council said the image showing a group of men on a road in a housing estate was "the latest in a series of social media posts from the deputy leader of Durham County Council intended to misinform, divide and sow racial hatred within Durham's communities".North Durham Labour MP Luke Akehurst criticised the use of AI-generated images, saying: "It's inflammatory and fake news to use AI-generated images to illustrate a policy argument like this."Labour councillor Rob Crute said Grimes was "using fake images to score political points"."It's cheap and it's easy but it'll be seen by our residents as just another attempt to grab the headlines," he said.Grimes dismissed the councillors' criticism, saying Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens did not care "one iota" about the people of County Durham.What he had published was not "racial hatred", he said."It isn't. It is the opposite. It is standing up for every Durham family, of every background, who played by the rules and is being told to wait longer because the system has been rigged against them."Darren Grimes/AIGrimes said opposition politicians did not care about people in County DurhamRelated storiesRelated internet links