A long-standing Tory councillor has quit the party after 28 years of service.

Kevin Blake, the deputy leader of Basildon's Conservatives has stepped down amid fury at the national policies the Government are implementing.

Mr Blake expressed his frustration at Boris Johnson's lockdown policies and his failure to solve knife crime.

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The Burstead councillor who says Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, persuaded him to stand as a councillor in 1991, added: "The fact I couldn't see my family but you can go to an illegal rave or a mass gathering in London baffled me.

"I believed in Boris to solve knife crime but nothing has been done."

The now independent councillor said he was also frustrated at the Basildon Conservative group itself, but stressed he was still 100% behind the leader of the Tory group, Andrew Baggott.

Mr Blake added: "I am still blue, but it's not as dark as it used to be, and I'm dissapointed at that."