A VETERAN Pendle councillor has quit the Liberal Democrats and accused group members of bullying.

Coun Kathleen Shore, who has represented the Clover Hill ward of Nelson for 22 years, made the shock announcement yesterday that she would now sit as an independent councillor.

She claimed group members had been banned from speaking to other party members without permission and said she would not bow to "bullies".

She said: "If you don't do as you are told in the Liberal Democrats you are in trouble. There's definitely an inner ring and if you are not in it, you've had it.

"I have been constantly pushed to one side because my face didn't fit. As a Liberal Democrat councillor you have to toe the line and do as the hierarchy say and that's not me. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I will never be dictated to."

Coun Shore joined the council as a Labour representative 22 years ago, and said crossing the floor to join the Lib Dems five years ago had been a "big mistake".

She said she had intended then to stand as an independent councillor but had been courted by senior figures who, she said, later criticised her for remaining friends with Labour members.

But Liberal Democrat leader Coun Alan Davies criticised Coun Shore, saying she had become a "liability".

He said the selection panel had decided not to pick her to fight her seat in May's election and he thought this had triggered her decision.

He said: "We have bent over backwards to accommodate her increasingly erratic behaviour. We have a completely open and democratic system of discussing our policies and proposals. Unfortunately there comes a time when you have to say enough is enough".

He accused her of disloyalty to the party -voting against colleagues without prior discussion and appearing on a newspaper picture celebrating a Labour election win last year.

Coun Shore said the photograph had been taken without her knowledge while she was talking to members of the party.

Coun Davies said he had hoped Coun Shore would "retire gracefully" when her term of office ends in May, claiming she had promised to do this, but Coun Shore said she had never suggested that she would step down.

She said she will join another former Liberal Democrat, Coun Marlene Hill-Crane, who represents the Craven ward, as an independent councillor at the next meeting of the full council to discuss the annual budget on February 22.

Coun Shore said: "I just hope the people of Clover Hill will support me and I can fight and win in May."