A Conservative county councillor has defected to UKIP, saying the Prime Minister is dithering over a referendum.

Adrian Crowther, who was elected to Kent County Council as the member for Sheppey in 2005 and is also a Swale Borough Councillor for Minster Cliffs, said he could no longer represent his constituents' interests as a Conservative.

Responding to David Cameron's speech on the EU, promising an "in-out" referendum on EU membership, Cllr Crowther said: "Cameron's speech changes nothing.

"He made those commitments before 2010 and failed to deliver on them. There is no reason to believe things will change following another Conservative victory in 2015.

"The British people and British businesses do not need another five years of dithering and uncertainty - we need a referendum this year."

A well-known Sheppey figure, Cllr Crowther (pictured above) was not re-selected by the Conservative party to contest his county council division later this year.

A former teacher, he was born near Blackburn, in Lancashire and moved to Kent in 1993.

He was elected to Swale council in 2000.