COLCHESTER Council’s Progressive Alliance has fallen apart after the Highwoods Independents quit due to political differences with their former allies.

Group leader Gerard Oxford wrote to Cabinet members and the council’s chief executive Adrian Pritchard announcing the decision on Friday.

The move follows cabinet discussions the night before where Mr Oxford said it become clear the differences between the group and the Lib Dem/Labour administration were too wide to bridge.

He said: “The direction the administration has started to go on a number of points means we are way out of step with them and as soon as I got in we had a meeting around the dining room table as we always do.

“I laid out to Bev and Philip what happened, what was said and agreed. We then made a unanimous decision to quit.

“From our point of view we carry on business as usual with our work in the ward and as back benchers.

“We will make decisions at full council based on what we think is right.

“I am disappointed it has come to this but there comes a point where principles and things you believe in come before anything else.

“I wish the administration the best going forward.”

The Highwoods Independents are made up of Mr Oxford, his wife, Beverly and their son, Philip.

Mr Oxford said there had been a number of areas where the group had disagreed with decisions including about Alumno’s proposed student development.

He said: “I am disgusted about how the disabled access issue came about.

“To my mind when we have a planning application come in you check it against all policies and any legislation and if it breaches some of those then it does not get further. It should not have seen the light of day.”

The Progressive Alliance had been made up of 27 councillors - 13 Lib Dems, 11 Labour and three Independents.

The Conservatives have the most seats with 23 and the Green Party has one councillor.

At the moment there will be no change as to who runs the council, however Mr Oxford will have to be replaced on the cabinet.

Leader of the council Mark Cory said: "I was quite surprised when I was made aware of the decision because I thought we were doing really productive work as a coalition.

"Me and Julie Young [Labour deputy leader] work closely together and we are very much on the same page about progressing investments in Colchester and making it a better place to live and visit.

"We will carry on working towards those priorities and I hope we can continue to work with the Highwoods Independents as well going forward.

"The door will remain open and we are happy to work with them and I am happy to discuss the issues they have."

Tina Bourne, leader of the Labour Group, said it had been a big success to keep the three group coalition together for so long.

“It is a shame because we have kept the administration together since 2008 with three different groups involved,” she said.

“If the group has made the decision then they have made it for their own reasons.”

Conservative leader Robert Davidson said: “I would like to thank Beverly, Gerard and Philip for what they have done for Colchester over the last few years.

“They have been an important part of the administration. They are independent councillors and Gerard is, in fact, very indepedent."

Discussions were set to continue over the weekend.