One of Kent County Council’s most senior officers has quit after being in the job for just a few months.

Anu Singh, the director of adult social care, has left the authority.

She took up the £155,000 job just six months ago but has now decided she is unable to balance the workload with her family commitments.

A statement from KCC said the size of the county and her journey from London were factors in her decision to leave.

“Over the last few weeks, Anu Singh has been in discussions about continuing in her role at KCC and has concluded that to do so will not allow her to strike the right balance between her home and career responsibilities.

"She has therefore reluctantly decided to prioritise her growing family and because of the current status of some key pieces of work within the directorate that will impact on the future, we have agreed that she will leave straight away to allow us to put other arrangements in place to take these forward.”

It added: “Anu is keen to be able to spend more time with her family than the current role allows when her journey from central London, the size of the county and the ever-present responsibilities of being the statutory director of adult social services are factored in.”

The statement said the former director had “thoroughly enjoyed her time at KCC” particularly because of the amazing colleagues she has worked with.

"Anu is keen to be able to spend more time with her family than the current role allows" - Kent County Council

Anu Singh succeeded the former director Andrew Ireland.

However, sources told the KM Group Ms Singh has not been in work for several days.

She was also absent from this week’s cabinet meeting.

The role was one of the most important at KCC as the council was at a critical moment as it sought to deal with a spiralling demand for care services against a backdrop of declining government grants.

She joined KCC from NHS England, where she was director of patient and public participation, a job that involved ensuring patients’ views were listened to.

She had worked for a number of other councils, including Staffordshire county council, the London borough of Harrow and Birmingham City Council.