A councillor instrumental in the creation of Harrow Borough Council's Independent Labour group has announced he will be leaving the party to become an independent.

Councillor Husain Akhtar has announced he will be resigning from the Independent Labour administration which he helped create earlier this year.

He said: “The breakaway Independent Labour Group, now in administration, perhaps means well but lacks confidence, courage and experience to make difficult but right decisions and is therefore Tory-driven, more than working together as it ought to be.

He added: “I tried but found it almost impossible to stand on the platform of justice and truth under the oppressive political regimes.

“Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that the best way to serve residents and the community in an honest and effective way is to work as an independent councillor, which I will be until May 2014.”

Cllr Akhtar has not been one to shy away from controversy after being elected as a Conservative member in 2007, but leaving the party in November to become an independent last year.

He switched to the Labour Party in March this year, but in June was one of the nine councillors to break away to form the Independent Labour Group, which took control of the authority with backing from Conservatives.