A SULLY councillor has quit UKIP over a candidate selection row for the Welsh Assembly elections.

The decision means councillor Kevin Mahoney will not stand for the party as he was due to this May and has now designated himself as independent.

Cllr Mahoney announced on national television recently that he would leave the party if candidates from outside Wales were "parachuted" onto regional lists ahead of their Welsh counterparts.

He had recently welcomed the news that the party's national executive committee had decided to give its membership a say on the ranking of UKIP's list of candidates.

But he added that he felt he had to step down from the party to "preserve his own personal integrity and honesty" as he could not be associated with candidates such as Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless being selected ahead of Welsh activists.

He said: "I had hoped that UKIP would rise above the political cronyism that has infected the other parties, but I am afraid that this is not the case.

"Possibly my greatest regret is that for the first time since I became eligible 39 years ago, I will find myself unable to vote in the May elections, as I regard all the current political parties in Wales to be as bad as each other.

"I have done my bit and feel that I can hold my head up high in my efforts to protect the Welsh electorate from those who see the voters as a mere stepping stone for their political careers.

"I guess that the rest is up to the Welsh voters to decide who they wish to represent them after May."