The chief executive of Mid Sussex District Council has resigned.

John Jory announced that he was leaving to all council staff in an email.

He will leave the local authority to take up the position of chief executive at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in Surrey.

Mr Jory's time in Mid Sussex has not been without controversy. He was the mastermind behind an arts festival in Haywards Heath which lost more than £270,000 of taxpayers' money.

The Culture Show, a three-day event which took place in Victoria Park in May 2007, had been billed as the biggest public event in Haywards Heath for several years with big name acts, but it only sold 1,175 tickets.

There were calls for Mr Jory to resign after it was revealed he met with the festival organisers two months before the council's cabinet became involved.

The Argus later revealed that Mr Jory was paid a £24,000 bonus in 2007 despite the council's flagship event making a massive loss.

Council plans to redevelop three town centres in Mid Sussex - Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grinstead - also fell flat at the beginning of this year after the developer's parent company, Thornfield Properties, went bust.