A village whose parish council has been racked by internal division is to hold an election to fill a vacancy left by its former chairman.

Cllr Chris Dyke resigned as chairman of Bearsted Parish Council on January 20, after he and four other councillors were reported to Maidstone council’s standards committee for alleged misconduct.

His four colleagues were officially cleared of any wrong-doing earlier this month, but the standards committee considered that Cllr Dyke had a case to answer and is arranging a hearing later this year. But now Cllr Dyke has resigned from the parish council altogether.

One of Cllr Dyke’s own colleagues, Cllr Geoff License, alleged that Cllr Dyke had breached the code of conduct by failing to treat others with respect and by conducting himself in a manner that could bring his office into disrepute.

Cllr License’s wife, Wendy, a former assistant clerk with the council, separately made five allegations against Cllr Dyke, among them that he had used his position improperly to secure an advantage for another person, a reference to the way the appointment of the village handyman, the husband of the parish clerk, was handled.

The new chairman Cllr Paul Young said Cllr Dyke’s resignation had been received "with great regret."

He said: "Chris served on the council for more than 10 years, latterly as vice-chairman and then as chairman. The council would like to thank Chris for all his help over the past 10 years and wish him well for the future."

More than 10 electors signed a demand for an official election to be held, rather than the vacancy being filled by co-option.

The election process will be supervised by the borough council, but the bill, likely to be several thousand pounds, will end up with the parish.

Council officer Kate Jardine said the hearing could not be arranged in time for the standard committee's next meeting on April 4.