LIBERAL Democrat council group leader John Macklin has ruled out any further defections to his party from the Labour group at the present time.

Cllr Milton Martin has crossed the floor to join the Lib Dems following his controversial deselection and that of five party colleagues.

It had been widely rumoured that Cllrs Shameem Highfield and Faiz Younis would follow Cllr Martin, which would have made the Lib Dems the biggest group on the council.

According to Cllr Macklin, the pair even verbally notified the council's chief executive of their intention to leave the Labour group, but have yet to follow it through.

Cllr Macklin said: "They will not be joining at this time and therefore their positions within their own group and on the council obviously remain an internal matter for the Labour Party."

Cllr Martin has also broken his silence on his resignation from the Labour group.

He said: "I have increasingly found myself disillusioned with the direction of the Labour Party both locally and nationally, yet until recently I continued to hope that local people keen to do the best for their community could perform this role through service as a Labour councillor.

"The deselection of many local members confirmed that this is obviously no longer the case and, for me personally, acted as the final straw.

"Having spoken to Cllr Macklin at length about the Liberal Democrats plans for the future of our borough, I had no hesitation in becoming a member of the party.

"I will continue to contribute effectively to Catthall as a Liberal Democrat councillor and an activist in exactly the same way that I know residents have always appreciated and that the Liberal Democrats expect - as a good local councillor who is accessible to local residents and who makes sure that their concerns are properly addressed in the Town Hall."

Cllrs Tarsem Bhogal and Elisaveth Davies were also deselected last month.

A formal complaint has been made about the selection process, which has been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Campaign group Operation Black Vote has expressed concerns about ethnic minority councillors being spurned by their group.