One of Cumbria’s longest serving Conservative county councillors has resigned from his party.

Alan Toole, 78, was a member of the party for 37 years and a Conservative county councillor for almost 23 years – but he says he would now prefer to sit as an independent after reaching the “end of his tether”.

He claims he has been disliked by some fellow party members in north Cumbria because he is so outspoken.

Mr Toole has also felt unsupported earlier in the year when he had to take time out from his council duties because his son-in-law was terminally ill.

The Conservative Group leader on Cumbria County Council, councillor James Airey, has accepted Mr Toole’s resignation, saying he was sorry to see the departure of such a dedicated councillor.

But Mr Toole said: “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and now I am at the end of my tether. As far as I am concerned, they’re not worth the bother.

“My son-in-law Steven passed away in June and as a family we’ve had a hell of a two years. But not one person from the Carlisle Conservative Association has been in touch.”

Mr Toole said he felt he had to spend time in Lancashire supporting his daughter and as a result he heard grumbles about his missing meetings.

He said: “We’re a close-knit family. With all this going on, I missed paying my subs. I completely forgot about it. But on the Friday I had a letter which told me my subs were overdue. It said that unless I paid them up by November 15 – the Sunday – I’d be thrown out.

“They said I had to realise that I would not then be eligible to stand as a conservative candidate for Belah again.”

Mr Toole said the letter was the last straw and so he will now turn his back on his party and sit on the authority as an independent councillor.

He added: “I can take or leave politics because I am here for the people of Belah. I’m outspoken and they don’t like that. I still have some good friends in the group and I hope they understand my stance.”

Mr Airey said: “I am aware that Alan has had some serious family issues and as leader of the Conservative group I have tried to support him as much as possible. I am sorry if he feels he hasn’t had the support he needed. I met with him three weeks ago and tried to thrash out some of the issues. I thought we’d come to some agreement.”

He said that all councillors tried to put the needs of their electorate first and some do occasionally speak against the party’s policies on issues affecting their ward.

He added that he was aware of some “personality” issues in Carlisle but generally Alan and the group had enjoyed a pretty good relationship.

Mr Airey added: “He has served his people in Belah well and I wish him well.” Nobody from the Carlisle Conservative Association was available for comment.