Police Crime Commissioner David Lloyd is preparing for a showdown with his deputy after she posted a quote by Adolf Hitler on microblogging site Twitter.

Dr Rachel Frosh, a Conservative town councillor, provoked upset from other Twitter users when she retweeted a post which drew a parallel between Hitler’s National Socialist Party and socialists.

Mr Lloyd confirmed to the Watford Observer this afternoon that he had not yet spoken to his deputy - who is paid £20,000 per year for the two-day a week role - but will do so in the next couple of days.

He said: "I haven’t yet had a proper chance to have a chat with Rachel but at face value I think this is an honest but ill-judged thing.

"From what I have picked up she retweeted without properly reading it, it’s not something I would have done.

"This is not the sort of thing I would expect of my deputy and I will be seeing her in the next couple of days.

"She has got a public role, it’s a high-profile role and we all need to recognise that everything we do, even in our private lives, is open for people to scrutinise. I recognise that and so must she."

Dr Frosh initially retweeted the post on January 31 before deleting it.

However a screen shot of the tweet on her Twitter feed emerged on the social networking site this week prompting the deputy police commissioner to post an explanation distancing herself from its content.

The post said "Dear Socialists embrace your inner Nazism" and had a picture of Adolf Hilter with a quote from 1927.

But Mr Lloyd said he does not believe Dr Frosh was expressing an extreme view or in any way endorsing the Nazi leader.

He added: "I haven’t got the full context but I genuinely believe this isn’t someone with extreme views, this is someone who made an ill-judged retweet."

Dr Frosh said the post was not meant to offend modern socialists but highlighted her dislike of Hitler being associated with the right wing of the political spectrum.

She said: "It is the perils of doing a retweet. I don’t remember retweeting it. It doesn’t mean I agree with it.

"I think racist extremist parties are off on their own. They are not extreme right or extreme left, they are nowhere. They are just unacceptable.

"Basically what I am saying is that any racist party is not anything to do with any mainstream party."

When asked whether Dr Frosh would continue in her role, Mr Lloyd said he would not be making any further comment until after he had met with his deputy.