UKIP's only MP Douglas Carswell is leaving the party and will sit in the House of Commons as the independent MP for Clacton.

Mr Carswell, who once stood against Tony Blair in his Sedgefield constituency, defected from the Conservatives to join UKIP in 2014.

He said he had joined because he wanted the UK to leave the EU.

Mr Carswell said he was leaving "amicably" and that there will be no need to call a by-election in his Clacton constituency as he will not be rejoining the Tories or switching allegiance to another party.

It comes after a public spat with Ukip's biggest financial backer Arron Banks, a close ally of former leader Nigel Farage, who suggested this month that he could trigger a by-election in Clacton using a recall petition and stand against Mr Carswell.

And  it apears that not all of the party's members are happy with Mr Carswell's decision.

Dr Ryan Waters tweeted that Mr Carswell is a "nasty, disruptive piece of work" and said he is happy he is leaving the party.

Announcing his resignation on his blog, Mr Carswell said Ukip has now achieved its goal of getting Britain out of the European Union, with Theresa May poised to trigger Article 50 to formally begin Brexit on Wednesday.

He said while Ukip has not won many seats in Parliament, "in a way, we are the most successful political party in Britain ever".

Mr Carswell paid tribute to party members and supporters, adding: "Like many of you, I switched to Ukip because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU.

"Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving Ukip.

"I will not be switching parties, nor crossing the floor to the Conservatives, so do not need to call a by-election, as I did when switching from the Conservatives to Ukip.

"I will simply be the Member of Parliament for Clacton, sitting as an independent.

"I will leave UKIP amicably, cheerfully and in the knowledge that we won."