Independent councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council have split into two different groups after a row about including a controversial new councillor.

Two councillors have quit the “Independent Group” on the council to form “Independents for B&NES” with new independent councillor Chris Warren (Saltford) after the Independent Group would not let him join.

Independent councillors are not in political parties, but forming a group on the council means they can be proportionally reflected on the membership of council committees.

In a statement, the Independent Group, which now has just four members, said it was “disappointed” that the independent councillors for Peasedown St John, Karen Walker and Gavin Heathcote, had left the group but it stood by its decision not to admit Mr Warren.

Ms Walker, leader of the new Independents for B&NES group, said: “There is a growing disillusionment with party-politics across Bath and North East Somerset, and so our new Independents for B&NES movement wants to provide the alternative that residents are crying out for.”

Mr Warren was elected to the council after defeating the Liberal Democrats in a council byelection on January 16 by just four votes. But in the two full council meetings which have happened since he was elected, he has not sat as a part of any group.

During the byelection campaign, Mr Warren insisted he was not behind an account on X (formerly Twitter) which had targeted the local council, politicians, and minorities with offensive posts.

He said the tweets did not reflect his views, although he found some of them funny, and suggested images of him tweeted by the account may have been taken from Facebook. He said: “It ain’t me. I’ve been trolled.” The account was deleted the day after the byelection.

The Independent Group said: “The Independent Group is not a political party and does not have a formal leader. It operates as a collaborative body, with each member having an equal say in the group’s activities and direction. Decisions regarding membership have always been made democratically, with each member entitled to a vote.

“Following this process, the group voted not to accept Chris Warren into the group at this time, due to concerns over a lack of clarity surrounding a controversial social media X account. We stand by our original group decision to defer Chris’s acceptance for six months, allowing him time to disprove any association with the X account — something which, sadly, has not yet happened — while also offering Chris our help and support as a newly elected B&NES councillor.”

Remaining in the Independent Group are Colin Blackburn (Westmoreland), former Conservative Alan Hale (Keynsham South), Shaun Hughes (Midsomer Norton North), and June Player (also Westmoreland). Neither group of independents is part of the council administration, which is run by the Liberal Democrats who have 40 of the 59 council seats.

Independents for B&NES said it has five priorities: putting people first, calling for an immediate halt to all low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) plans, supporting small and medium sized businesses, increasing council investment in community facilities, and cutting waste.