Pc and former Mr Gay UK charged with sex offences

Pc Mark Carter, 27, from Huddersfield, has been charged following an alleged incident at the Etap hotel in Leeds city centre on December 19 last year.

The West Yorkshire Police officer will appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that a 27-year-old officer had been suspended after an investigation into the events at the hotel.

Carter was crowned Mr Gay UK in 2006 at the Flamingo Club in Blackpool. In recent years he supported long-distance charity runs in Huddersfield, including running from Bradford central police station to Huddersfield to raise awareness and funding for the Anthony Nolan Trust, which runs one of the UK's two bone marrow registers.

He also entered to highlight the work of the Brunswick Centre, a charity that supports gay men in Kirklees.

When crowned Mr Gay UK, Carter, then 23, was said to have the full backing of West Yorkshire Police.

He won the title against 25 other contestants to win 5,000 worth of prizes.

At the time he reportedly said: "Two years ago I used to cry myself to sleep at night, I was so daunted by the prospect of coming out, but when I did it was the best thing ever.

"I was so happy I could finally be myself. I thought telling people I was gay would mean no one would want to know me, but at the Mr Gay UK final I had more people together, supporting me in one place than I've ever had in my life."