Former Co-op chairman and Methodist minister Paul Flowers has been arrested, police have confirmed.

Mr Flowers was accused earlier this week of buying illegal drugs including crystal meth and crack cocaine. He has since been suspended indefinitely from his duties by the Methodist Church as part of its complaints and discipline process.

The Daily Mail released a video last Sunday apparently showing Mr Flowers spending £300 in a covert drugs deal, in addition to a series of text messages he sent allegedly boasting of drug use and holding "drug fuelled" parties.

It has since emerged that the openly-gay Mr Flowers resigned from his position as Labour councillor in Bradford in 2011 after "inappropriate but not illegal adult content" was found on his computer.

Amidst these claims, Mr Flowers was arrested in the Merseyside area last night. The West Yorkshire Police have released a statement confirming his arrest "in connection with an ongoing drugs supply investigation", and have stated that he is currently in detention facing enquiries.

In a statement confirming his suspension yesterday, the Methodist Church said: "We always wait for any police investigation or court proceedings to conclude before moving forward...there will be no further action until then."

It is currently unclear how the Methodist Church will respond following Mr Flowers' arrest.

The Methodist Church was contacted for comment but was unavailable at the time of going to press.