A Tory MP has apologised for posting a tweet in which he said Jeremy Corbyn had passed British secrets to a spy from communist Czechoslovakia.

Ben Bradley said the now deleted tweet was “wholly untrue and false”.

He will also donate an undisclosed sum to a charity supported by the Labour leader and has agreed not to repeat the allegation.

Labour had said a Sun story about Mr Corbyn having contact with a Czech spy in the 1980s was “absurd”.

A spokesman denied that Mr Corbyn ever acted as a collaborator or agent of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

“I have no hesitation in offering my unreserved and unconditional apology to Jeremy Corbyn for the distress I have caused him,” Mr Bradley said.

He had been threatened with legal action over his tweet.

Mr Bradley will make a donation to a foodbank and a homeless charity in his constituency, and pay Mr Corbyn’s legal fees, Labour said.