The Conservative candidate standing in Croydon Central has denied that he knew of the allegations linking him to the controversial church SPAC nation.

Last month concerns were raised about the relationship between the church and the Croydon Conservative Party.

It all started when a SPAC Nation pastor, Jayde Edwards, was put forward as a candidate in a Croydon Council by-election for the Fairfield ward.

Steve Reed who is standing for re-election in Croydon North accused the Croydon Conservatives of “outsourcing” their campaign to the church.

He even called for Mario Creatura, a Croydon Conservative councillor, running to become the MP in Croydon Central, to step down.

But Mario said he has been at the receiving end of “personal and nasty” comments on social media.

He said: “If the church has done something wrong, absolutely the right thing to do is for the police and any of the authorities to investigate.

“As far as I am aware Jayde Edwards [a member of the church] was just a candidate for us [our party] and she goes to that church. She told me she has no knowledge of any of the allegations.

RELATED: Concerns raised over relationship between SPAC Nation and Croydon Conservative Party

“We’ve got members who go to churches, mosques and gudwaras.

“To say that because Jayde was a candidate for the Conservatives and that the church may have done something wrong, that something is nefarious in our politics is quite a leap to make.

“People are using someone’s faith to muddy the waters of someone who is a talented young woman. It is the worst kind of identity politics I think it is bad for people’s faith in politics.

“I have been campaigning for 10 years but the mud that has been flung is like nothing I’ve experienced.

“The vitriol on social media is like nothing I have ever seen. It is nasty and personal.”

The church runs at locations across the capital and accusations have been made that it forces young people to take out loans to give to the church.

It describes itself as getting gang members to give up their weapons and join the church.

The church shelters young people who have joined it in what it describes as “trap houses”. It is believed that three of these are based in Croydon.

RELATED: Former SPAC Nation church member speaks out to discourage others from joining organisation

While Croydon Council could not confirm whether it was investigating the church, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it is looking into allegations of fraud and “other possible offences” made by SPAC Nation.

The Charity Commission issued a statement on November 22 saying: “We are following up on the new concerns raised with the trustees and are considering our next regulatory steps. We have not drawn any regulatory conclusions on these matters.

“The charity was already subject to a regulatory compliance case when the most recent concerns were aired in the media, and are engaging with the trustees on the charity’s compliance with an action plan we had set them in June.”