A COUNCIL meeting called to discuss a controversial town mayor will go ahead next week, despite him stepping down from the role.

On Wednesday, Ferryhill Town Councillor Richard Smith announced he would resign as mayor after he came under fire for his social media posts about Islam and gay people.

Labour councillors had previously requested an extraordinary meeting to call for the resignation of the mayor and his supporters.

As chairman of the council, Cllr Smith agreed to hold a meeting on Wednesday, July 11, at 7pm.

The council has confirmed that meeting will still be held at Ferryhill Town Hall as planned.

Cllr Kath Conroy, a Labour member, said: "We asked for the meeting based on public requests, as that is who we represent.

"They are telling us they still want it to go ahead. We won't do or say anything more until we hear what the public want at the meeting."

As usual, the meeting will begin with up to 15 minutes for public participation, with each speaker limited to three minutes.