A COUNCILLOR is refusing to step down despite revelations over his criminal record, including sexual assaults on underage girls.

The Tory party have expelled 54-year-old old Robert Richdale who stood as a "family man" in the June elections for Folkestone town council.

It has emerged that Cllr Richdale, who lives in Folkestone, has a string of convictions and had spent more than three years in prison.

At Sheerness Magistrates' Court in 1973, Cllr Richdale pleaded guilty to indecent assaults on two girls under 16. The magistrates imposed a six-month sentence.

A spokesman for Conservative Party leader Michael Howard, whose constituency is Folkestone and Hythe, said: "Mr Richdale is no longer a member of the local Conservative Association and no longer represents the Conservatives on the town council."

Jonathan Holborow, chairman of Folkestone and Hythe Conservative party, said Cllr Richdale had been expelled immediately they discovered his criminal record, and called on him to resign as a councillor.

He stressed: "This was a serious internal matter from Mr Richdale's complete failure to disclose matters vital to the electorate.

"We therefore decided that he could no longer be a member of the Conservative Association in Folkestone and Hythe.

"As chairman, I decided to expel him immediately. I call upon Mr Richdale to resign from Folkestone town council."

The local Lib Dim spokesperson Peter Carroll says the Conservative Party should have taken much more care when carrying out its vetting procedure, as he told KM-fm...