ROCHFORD Council is no longer under Tory control for the first time in 20 years.

Three Conservative councillors quit the group this week leaving the council’s balance of power teetering on a knife’s edge ahead of the local elections in May.

The Tories had previously held majority control, with 22 councillors against 19, independent, Green, Lib Dem, and Rochford District Residents Group councillors.

Now the council has into no overall control with the Tories in charge as a minority administration.

Hawkwell West ward councillor Julie Gooding and her husband James Gooding, who represents Roche South, are now independent.

Explaining her decision to leave the Tories, Julie Gooding said: “My values and beliefs, what I stood as a councillor for, no longer align with the Conservative association.

“As a Conservative councillor we are whipped to vote the same way, and I can no longer support everything they are putting forward so I have left.

“I can now vote in the best interests of the residents that I represent.”

Mrs Gooding, who pledged not to align herself with any other parties, claimed the council’s handling of the Holt Farm Oak Tree protests and Ashingdon Road Bloor Homes development had caused her to feel disillusioned with the Conservatives.

In a statement released on Facebook, councillor James Gooding, said: "I felt that I could no longer agree on the direction this group was taking and no longer support decisions being made."

Foulness and The Wakerings ward councillor Jo McPherson has also left the Conservatives.

She says she will sit as a non-aligned Conservative on the council.

The exits mean the authority no longer has a majority Conservative administration for the first time in 20 years.

A source inside the council claims they expect to see more Conservatives quit the group in the coming weeks.

While Rochford District Residents Hockley councillor Adrian Eves believes the moves raise the stakes for the coming election.

“Obviously some members of the Conservative group weren’t happy with how things were being run and have voted with their feet," he said.

“With the local elections so close, there will be a lot of interest over how the results go now.”