CLLR Sam Gardner has announced his resignation as a cabinet member for Cheshire East Council after it was revealed he was banned from being a company director.

Cllr Gardner, ward member for Macclesfield and Tytherington, said he will step aside from his cabinet portfolio for leisure and open spaces with immediate effect.

The resignation comes after it was claimed that Cllr Gardner did not disclose he was disqualified from being a company director.

Cllr Gardner is listed on Companies House as being disqualified from June 25, 2013, to June 24, 2017. This happens when you don’t meet your legal responsibilities.

He said: “I very much regret to announce that I have offered my resignation to the new leader of Cheshire East Council, Rachel Bailey, and will step aside from my cabinet portfolio for leisure and open spaces with immediate effect.

“In view of the publicity surrounding my role as a former director and chairman of an events company which went into liquidation in 2011, I do not wish to put at risk the reputation of Cheshire East Council, the leader of the council, Rachel Bailey, or my cabinet and council colleagues.”

Cllr Gardner was elected to Cheshire East Council last May and given the post of deputy cabinet member for finance and assets by former council leader Michael Jones.

He was soon promoted to cabinet member for leisure and open spaces, and maintains he did not break council rules by not disclosing the matter of his disqualification as a company director.

He said: “I reiterate what I have said previously that I was not obliged under council rules to disclose the matter of my disqualification as a company director when interviewed for my cabinet position and the disqualification is in no way incompatible with my duties as a portfolio holder.

“Cheshire East Council is a fantastic council to serve and I remain fully committed to my role as a Tytherington Ward councillor and will work as hard as always for the benefit of my ward and the residents of Cheshire East.”

Cllr Bailey said she has accepted Cllr Gardner’s resignation with a ‘heavy heart’. “He has been a fully committed and dedicated member of my Cabinet and I am very sorry to lose him in these circumstances,” she said.

“Elected to Council last May, he was appointed to Cabinet by my predecessor and has brought with him a fresh and vibrant approach to local politics and the work of this Council.

“The Council and the residents of Cheshire East have lost the services of a highly talented, sensitive and dynamic young man who has chosen to step down.”