THE de-selected leader of Durham County Council said last night his stance on gipsies may have contributed to him being removed from his post.

Councillor Ken Manton, who represents Sedgefield, will have to step down following elections in May after he was de-selected by his local Labour branch.

His position was first reported as being under threat in December amid claims he had lost the confidence of the Sedgefield constituency Lab-our party over local issues.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, Mr Manton said a row over travellers regularly accessing a lane in the town contributed to his demise as leader of the council.

Residents repeatedly called for a lockable gate to be installed to close off the lane, but Coun Manton refused to support the request.

It led to him to being criticised at several public meetings, culminating in a vote of no confidence in him last year.

He said: "I think there were a number of issues and I would suspect this was one of them. There was the principle here: should we have consistency around the county, or as leader should I use my authority to impose something in Sedgefield when it was not being imposed in the rest of the county.

"I took the position that anybody that breaks the law should be subject to sanctions, whether part of the settling community or gipsies or travellers, but I accepted that there are good and law-abiding people who are gipsies and travellers."