A former town mayor has shocked his own party by defecting to UKIP.

Councillor Charles James has become the first to represent UKIP on Worthing Borough Council following his shock announcement on Monday.

The Durrington councillor said he had grown “disillusioned” and “disenchanted” with the Conservative Party’s failure to “get to grips” with the European Union.

Local Conservative party leader Councillor Paul Yallop said the announcement was a surprise and the defection to a UKIP party riding high in West Sussex was a concern.

The move caps a successful few months for UKIP in West Sussex, having won ten seats during the recent county council elections, making it the second biggest party on the local authority.

In March, the deputy leader at Tory-controlled Horsham District Council, Roger Arthur, announced he was joining UKIP.

Coun James, the town’s mayor in 2012/13, said the decision was a personal one and he had not been approached by any UKIP members.

The former firefighter said he did not have “anti-European feelings” and he hoped that by leaving the EU, Great Britain could continue to have strong trading links with the continent like Norway and Switzerland.

'A bit shabby'

Coun James, who became a councillor in 2010, said: “I am unhappy with the way Westminster has shown a lack of getting to grips with the European situation and a lack of taking notice of what the country feels.

“We are suffering large cuts to our local authority budgets but on recent travels on the continent, I don’t see that same level there.

“Their greens and their amenities are not suffering, whereas we are looking a bit shabby because of all the budget cuts while we see our contributions to the EU budget rising.”

Coun Yallop said: “It’s business as usual for the local party.

“I am rather surprised by Charles’ announcement. He had never raised any concerns about national policy previously.

“There is nothing he can do on a borough council in those areas concerning our relationship with the EU. Our role is to make decisions to ensure we have good quality services.”