Harrow Borough Council's Labour group has called for the leader of the council to think about people in the borough after forming a breakaway party.

The leader of Harrow Borough Council, councillor Thaya Idaikkadar, split from the Labour group with eight other councillors last week to form a new Independent Labour group.

The division arose because a number of councillors were upset following the appointment of councillor David Perry as Leader of the Labour group after a surprise challenge at last month's annual meeting, where he deposed councillor Idaikkadar.

Since the split, the Harrow Labour group has written an open letter to councillor Idaikkadar calling on him to reconsider his decision.

The letter says: “We are deeply saddened by your recent decision to leave the Harrow Labour group – of which you have been a loyal member for 11 years.

“We very much hope that you will reconsider this decision and the consequences for Harrow residents of working with the Tories.

“You have proudly served in the cabinet since Harrow voters put their trust and faith in Labour at the 2010 local elections.”

The letter goes on to say the party has committed to a shared priority to protect frontline services, especially to those in need - but the action he is taking is putting that promise at risk.

The letter ends by saying: “We will continue standing together for Harrow. Until the point that you announce your new cabinet, and we see you shoulder to shoulder with Harrow Tories, we will not believe that your head and heart are still not firmly with us – and with Labour.”

However the Independent Labour says its members have been threatened with expulsion from the Labour Party.

Over the coming days councillor Idaikkadar will announce his new cabinet after he dismissed the previous one last week meaning decision could not be made to at Thursday’s cabinet meeting.

He said: “We apologise to the residents of the borough for cancelling the cabinet meeting last Thursday due to the unexpected situation.

“Once the new cabinet is in place we will deal with any delayed decisions swiftly.”