A BNP councillor has ended his three-year association with the far right party claiming it is led by a dictator.

Simon Deacon, BNP councillor for Markyate, took the decision to resign saying he could no longer support the party's leader Nick Griffin.

Councillor Deacon, who will now stand on Markyate parish council as an independent, told the Review: "There are a lot of people who are not happy with the way the party is being run by Nick Griffin.

"Anybody that has been outspoken and criticised him have found themselves suspended.

"I feel with the way people are being treated within the party I couldn't support Nick Griffin any longer.

"I couldn't vote for that party at the moment - not the way Nick Griffin is running the BNP.

"If he's going to suspend his own people as soon as they speak badly of him, then how could you trust him as Prime Minister?

"We (BNP) have been labelled in the past as Nazis and facists and I feel at the moment that label is correct.

"I'm not a facist or a Nazi and I don't want to be associated with them.

"I agree with the BNP's policies, it's just the people that are implementing them.

Councillor Deacon is a former member of the National Front, joining it in 1992. He added: "My loyalty is to my country, not a political party - I have always made that perfectly clear.

"When I joined the party the BNP was the only hope left for this country now I feel there's no hope."