A vicar is being hounded by angry residents after he refused to give up his council seat in London despite moving nearly 80 miles away to Brighton.

Reverend David Clues has continued to serve as a Brent councillor although he moved to St Bartholomew’s Church in the city in December 2011.

Rev Clues has clung onto his annual allowance of £7,974 by attending one meeting every six months to prevent triggering a byelection.

But last weekend, a furious resident jumped on a train and travelled down to Brighton to confront Rev Clues after he failed to respond to her emails and phone calls. The angry woman told the Brent and Kilburn Times the vicar was “taking none of his regular duties seriously” and had “lost any interest” in his ward.

According to his profile on Brent Council’s website, residents are invited to contact Rev Clues by phone or email so he can make an individual appointment for them.

But the married father was not at his vicarage and could not be contacted, and yesterday he would not answer or return phone calls from The Argus.

However on Tuesday night, he pledged on national television to give up his seat after he was featured on Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.

Calling his position “anomalous”, he said: “I’m in the process of resigning. My intention all along was to do what I could for my constituents as long as I could but I recognise that’s not realistic and I don’t think it’s fair on them.”

Rev Clues also made the news last year when he put forward the ground-breaking scheme to appoint a priest for the county’s gay community.

If approved, it would be the first position of its type in the country.