The outgoing leader of Allerdale council has blamed her departure on a "negative" and "distrusting" executive committee.

Marion Fitzgerald made the shock announcement she was stepping down from her role as leader of the authority yesterday.

She revealed exclusively to the News & Star that she could no longer lead the council due to some members "neglecting important duties".

Coun Fitzgerald said: "It is no longer possible for me to work as leader with particular members of the executive committee who seem unwilling to take full responsibility for their important roles within the council.

"They bring negativity to every discussion and have a permanent and unshakable distrust of staff and fellow members."

She added that some members had dodged responsibility for collective decisions.

"There has been a tendency to continually focus on the past and to neglect important duties.

"This has been accompanied by an unwillingness to take an appropriate share of responsibility for decisions that have, in fact, been made collectively.

"This does not apply to all members of the executive committee by any means and I would like to take this opportunity to thank individual members from each of the political groups who have offered their help and support during what has been a difficult year.

"I would also like to thank staff at Allerdale who have worked so very hard to help us succeed with so much in such a short time."

She added that despite the negative atmosphere, her executive had achieved a "great deal" since being elected in May.

Coun Fitzgerald said: "We have achieved a great deal in the past nine months by steering the council through one of the biggest crises it has ever experienced in terms of the waste and recycling contract; designing a plan to make the council self-sustaining within ten years; ensuring that the overview and scrutiny process works better than it ever has before; strengthening the working relations between Allerdale and other local authorities; taking a budget forward to full council which does not demand the full council tax increase (for the first time in many years) and yet provides a sustainable platform from which to move forward with our ambitions for the council; launching business opportunities for the council by deciding to operate the markets service ourselves and forming a council owned housing company.

"I would hope that this is a good level of achievement by anyone's standards, but my feeling is that it has been arrived at despite certain members of the executive, rather than with their support."

Deputy leader Mike Johnson is set to take on the role of leader in the interim.

A statement issued by Allerdale council praised coun Fitzgerald’s efforts in her role as leader in the past months.

It said: “Coun Johnson and acting chief executive Andrew Seekings would like to thank coun Fitzgerald for the leadership, dedication, time and effort she has put into the role.”

Only on Thursday her executive announced that plans to introduce a fortnightly black bin collection and charge for garden waste collections in Allerdale could be binned.

Coun Fitzgerald’s executive proposed the authority’s budget for the coming year which, if ratified by the full council, would see the waste collection remain as it was.

She said yesterday: “Council Tax has been increased by the maximum for several years and our proposals mark a departure from this.

“It has been a difficult year with the problems inherited from the waste service but despite that we have managed to find savings and deliver this budget.”