A Tory councillor has resigned from the party after kinky pictures he emailed to 'an admirer' found their way into the in-boxes of his fellow councillors and members of the press.

Married father-of-two Phil Grayson, 45, resigned the Conservative party whip this week but continues to sit as an independent member of Bracknell Forest Borough Council. He faces a standards inquiry over accusations from rival Labour councillors that the sexually explicit emails he sent brought the council into disrepute.

Councillor Grayson got into a email friendship by someone claiming to be a 23 year-old woman (Julie Masters) interested in older men back in March.

Flattered by this attention, Cllr. Grayson began exchanging messages about his sexual fantasies and peccadilloes, which became progressively raunchier over the course of the next three month.

These raunchy exchanges came back to haunt the councillor when a photo of him wearing a suspender belt, tights and no underwear he emailed to 'Julie Masters' was publicly released.

Cllr. Grayson maintains he is a victim of a conspiracy to discredit him. He has reported the matter to the police.

However in an interview with local paper the Bracknell News, Cllr. Grayson admitted his actions were naive.

"I have been stupid and deeply regret the pain and anguish caused by this being made public. I was at a low ebb at the time and it was pure escapism," he told the paper. ®