REDDITCH MP Karen Lumley has paid tribute to Worcestershire County Councillor Philip Gretton, who has resigned from his position following a period of ill health.

Mr Gretton was Chairman of Redditch Conservative Association when Mrs Lumley was selected as Parliamentary candidate in 1999 and she said this was a "very sad day for Redditch politics".

"Philip was an amazing county councillor who always went that extra mile to help," she added.

"Only very recently he allocated £1,000 from his annual budget towards the Redditch Tour Series – the largest from any of the county councillors.

"He has been an inspiration to me and I have always trusted his judgement and advice.

He will be a huge loss to politics as a whole and will be sadly missed by not only the Conservative party but also by constituents."