A COUNCILLOR stood - or rather sat - his ground in the face of an order to leave a Basildon Council meeting, remaining in his seat even after being ordered to leave and after police intervention.

Officers attended the meeting on Thursday, 23 March after being called by the council after Cllr Kerry Smith refused a mayoral directive, backed by a majority of members to leave the meeting.

However, the police officers, after discussion with Cllr Smith, left and took no action - saying no laws had been broken.

The incident happened in a debate about the planned expansion of the London ULEZ and the meeting was adjourned after just half an hour, after Cllr Kerry Smith, an independent councillor representing Nethermayne, refused to leave the chamber and slammed attempts to remove him as "like North Korea" and describd the council as "a pound shop European Parliament."

He can also be heard saying "you won't throw me out, I'm 24 stone." He said: "Don't make threats. This is England. The Independent Group takes a leaf out of Churchill's books."

The issue arose after a speech from council leader Cllr Andrew Baggottwhich included statements the authority would fight attempts to expand London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) into Basildon.

Cllr Smith criticised him for using time reserved for announcements to make "a party political broadcast for the Conservative Party."

After the interruptions, Mayor Cllr Luke Mackenzie moved to that Cllr Smith should not be heard and then he asked for a vote, which was carried by a majority, to remove him from the meeting.

The meeting was then adjourned for three and a half hours, until 11pm, during which time police officers attended.

The remaining items were voted through without a debate, except one which will be debated at a later meeting.

The council was due to discuss a public consultation over an early version of its new local plan, a blueprint for tens of thousands of new homes across the borough.

Cllr Baggott said in his speech: "We are totally against ULEZ, we will do everything in our power to actually ensure it doesn't descend on Basildon."

The Transport for London, the Ul;tra Low emmission Zone, is planned to expanding into areas of Greater London from August this year. However, it is not planned to reach as far as Basildon.