91Èȱ¬

A councillor has quit the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) months after being appointed, claiming he faced "bullying" which left him in hospital with heart palpitations.

David Clarke was selected by the DUP in October to replace Cheryl Brownlee on Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

She became a Stormont assembly member.

The DUP did not respond to Mr Clarke's allegations but a spokesman said they "wished him well".

Mr Clarke, who intends to continue on the council as an independent, said he had "no choice but to act for my own health and well-being".

Mr Clarke said he resigned from the DUP after raising a number of "serious concerns" which he felt were not properly addressed by the party leadership.

"Unfortunately, the stress and strain of all of these issues that I've only scratched the surface on, actually caused me to end up in Antrim Area Hospital," he told 91Èȱ¬ News NI.

"My resting heart rate was 225 beats a minute, my blood pressure was completely through the roof and I spent a couple of days in a hospital under the care of a cardiologist.

"I did try desperately to bring issues which I thought were very serious to the attention of the party and the leadership.

"I have emails that remain not even acknowledged. And I made a number of phone calls to headquarters.

"It was only once I tendered my resignation yesterday that I did get a response then, but I felt it was too late then."

Mr Clarke, 33, was co-opted to Ms Brownlee's council seat in the Carrick Castle district electoral area.

He said he felt he had earned his place on the council following an "intensive" interview process with the party's leadership.

But he claimed that following his co-option, he was subjected to "bullying".

"There were certain people who made life quite difficult for me, and made their, if you like, unhappiness about my co-option known to me and made life difficult," he said.

Mr Clarke also said he had concerns about the handling of a recruitment process for jobs he unsuccessfully applied for.

He said this would be the subject of "legal proceedings" which he did not wish to comment further on.

The councillor also claimed he was told by some in the DUP that "as a new councillor, you can't speak for six months in the council".

"I'm not sure how you represent your constituents if you're not allowed to speak," he added.

On his resignation from the party, he said: "Ultimately I had no choice but to act for my own health and well-being, and to try and move forward in a positive way.

"I'm willing to work with anybody who shares the same political views and opinions as me, and that doesn't diminish now that this has happened."

Mr Clarke, who had been a DUP member for about 18 months, did not rule out joining another party in the future "perhaps further down the line".

But he said that for now he was focused on representing his constituents as an independent councillor.

"I'm now focused on making this the best experience it can be, and making it a positive one," he said.

In a statement, the council's interim chief executive Valerie Watts confirmed she had "received notification from councillor David Clarke that he has resigned as a member of the DUP and wishes to continue to represent the people of Carrick Castle DEA [district electoral area] as an independent councillor in Mid and East Antrim Borough Council with immediate effect".

The DUP did not respond to the allegations made by Mr Clarke.

In a statement, a party spokesman said: "Mr Clarke has left membership of the party. We wish him well."