Croydon Conservative leader Mike Fisher has resigned after it emerged he accepted a £10,000 pay rise, while the council underwent brutal cuts to services.

The Shirley councillor, who led Croydon council for eight years before losing the local elections in May, has been under increasing pressure to quit after details of the pay rise came to light.

A last-minute meeting among conservative councillors was due to take place this morning, after deputy leaders Dudley Mead and Tim Pollard openly expressed their disappointment with their colleague.

In a torrid week for the ex-council leader, Labour MP for Croydon North Steve Reed wrote a letter to David Cameron, urging him to suspend Mr Fisher for accepting the 18 per cent increase.

He resigned as deputy leader of the opposition late last night.

Council leader and labour councillor Tony Newman tweeted this morning: “Finally Cllr Fisher resigns but many questions remain for Croydon Tories re who knew what & when? An independent inquiry must & will follow”

Yesterday evening Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell tweeted: “Hope this will go some way to restoring his reputation. What he did was wrong but he has also done a lot of good for our town."

The Croydon Guardian tried calling Mr Fisher this morning but it went straight to voicemail.

We also tried to contact deputy leader Tim Pollard to ask about who will replace Mr Fisher, but his phone also appeared to be switched off.

Mr Fisher accepted the pay rise when he was leader of the council last year.