Coun Keith Sowden - who claims he jumped before he was pushed - has vowed to continue to represent Overton as an independent and is rejecting calls by his former party colleagues to stand down and fight a by-election.

He defied the Conservative group whip in a recorded vote at Wednesday's full Lancaster City Council meeting on whether the authority should take on responsibility for deciding whether to form a Morecambe Town Council.

A petition calling for the creation of the town council was passed to the Department for Communities and Local Government last year but Lancaster was given the option of taking on the decision after a change in Whitehall rules.

The Conservative group and all but one Labour councillor voted to leave the decision with the government amid fears it could be divisive and costly for the authority.

But Coun Sowden backed Morecambe Bay Independent, Green and Liberal Democrat councillors, who favoured making the decision locally and easily won the vote.

At an emergency meeting during a break in the full council session the Conservatives decided Coun Sowden had breached their group's constitution by voting against a policy they had previously agreed upon.

Coun Sowden said he had feared a decision could be delayed if left to the government but added that his split with the party "had been coming" and that he had verbally resigned immediately after the council meeting before being "sacked" in writing.

"I'm sad that it has come to this," said Coun Sowden, who claimed the party's rules were "undemocratic".

"But I've had disagreements with the party in recent months over what I can and can't say and how I can and can't vote."

Claiming he had declined offers to join the Liberal Democrats and Morecambe Bay Independents, Coun Sowden added:

"People in the village are generally not interested in politics - it should be about getting holes in the road done and things like that, not about Conservatives or Labour or anything else."

"I believe in policies like low taxation but principles of free speech are more important and the people of Overton who voted me in are my responsibility."

Council and Conservative group leader, Coun Roger Mace, said: "It's disappointing because we now have 11 members on the council instead of 12.

"He has in a number of ways been quite outspoken but that's now a matter for him. In the scheme of things this is one issue but it's necessary to maintain group discipline and this was a serious matter.

"If a member makes their disagreement known prior to the meeting the possibility arises for them to leave the meeting at the time of the vote but Coun Sowden did not do that."

Coun Mace backed a call by Conservative group administrator Coun Susan Bray for Coun Sowden to "do the decent thing" and stand for re-election under his new colours.

He added that it was "important" moves to form a Morecambe Town Council were progressing.

Councillors agreed that issues around the financial arrangements and council tax setting powers of the new body should be resolved, and the first elections could be held in May 2009.