Housing committee member Mike Amesbury MP has been charged with common assault following an incident where he appeared to punch a voter last month.

The charge comes after CCTV footage emerged of the member for Runcorn and Helsby seeming to punch a man in a carpark, before raining down five further blows onto him on the ground.

Cheshire Police said yesterday that the 55-year-old will appear at a magistrates court at a later date to face the assault charge.

In a statement, police said the charge “relates to reports of an assault on a 45-year-old man on Main Street, Frodsham, which was reported to police at 2.48am on Saturday 26 October”.

Crown Prosecution Service head of the special crime division Rosemary Ainslie added: “Following a review of the evidence provided by Cheshire Police, we have authorised a charge of common assault against Mike Amesbury MP, 55.”

In a statement, Amesbury said: “I have today been summonsed to court to face a charge of common assault following an incident in Frodsham last month, which was deeply regrettable.

“I am continuing to cooperate with police and given this is an ongoing case I cannot comment further.”

The House of Commons confirmed that Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has appointed a Risk Assessment Panel to consider the case.

Amesbury was elected as a Labour MP, but has been suspended by the party and now sits as an independent.

He was confirmed as part of the nine-strong Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on Monday 21 October, before the altercation took place.

The committee, which will scrutinise the work of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s housing department, is chaired by Labour MP Florence Eshalomi.