ALEX Collingwood has been dramatically voted out as leader of Wycombe District Council.

He is to relinquish his role after members of the Tory party said they wanted Richard Scott, the member for Marlow South East, to be their new leader.

The handover is due to be made at the council's annual meeting on Monday May 13.

Cllr Collingwood said today: "Looking to the future, a majority of the Conservative group of councillors have decided that they wish Cllr Richard Scott to be the leader. As a result, I will stand down as leader of the council with effect from Annual Council on May 13.

"My deputy, Cllr Roger Wilson, and I will now work closely with Cllr Scott and his deputy Cllr Hugh McCarthy to ensure a smooth leadership transition over the next six weeks."

Cllr Collingwood replaced the long-serving Lesley Clarke as Leader of the authority in 2011, and one of his first acts in the role was to quash the planned stadium for Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps at Booker.

Under his tenure the council also committed to building a new sports centre at Handy Cross and jointly signed a recycling contract with Chiltern District Council.

He said: "In the face of this ever challenging financial climate, and the 40 per cent cut in government funding, I am very proud of everything that the council has achieved in the last two years and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to make a positive difference to local people’s lives in my role as leader of the council.

"I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of the team at Wycombe District Council - officers and members - for their hard work, commitment and support in helping the Council to achieve all that it has for the benefit of local residents and businesses.

"Cllr Wilson and I wish Cllr Scott and Cllr McCarthy every continued success."

Cllr Scott said: "I want to publicly thank Alex for all of his hard work as leader of the council over the past two years.

"I am very much looking forward to continuing his work with officers and councillors, building on the council’s recent successes and continuing to put local people at the heart of everything that we do in the years to come."