A former council leader has been suspended by his party amid allegations he broke its rules.
Conservative Harborough district councillor Mike Rook will be the subject of an internal investigation over the next few weeks.
During his suspension, he will not be allowed to attend group meetings or be under the Conservative whip.
The ban was imposed by new council leader Blake Pain yesterday.
Late last year, when Mr Rook was leader of the council, he sacked Councillor Pain as deputy and dismissed him from the cabinet after Coun Pain said he could not support plans to build 1,800 homes on the Airfield Farm site.
Details of the allegations against Coun Rook, who has represented the Tilton ward since 2007, have not been made public.
It is understood they relate to criticisms of Mr Pain's conduct while deputy leader in a letter to a newspaper.
In a statement issued yesterday, Coun Pain said: "This suspension is a neutral act and has been made so party whips can carry out an investigation into the actions of Councillor Rook and allegations concerning serious breaches of the Conservative group rules and protocols.
"Once this committee has investigated, a report and its recommendations will be considered at a future Conservative group meeting.
"No further comment will be issued by me about this until after the investigation has been concluded."
If the allegations are proved, Coun Rook could be reprimanded, suspended, or expelled from the group.
When Coun Rook stepped down after two-and-a-half years as leader, he said: "I shall continue to work hard as councillor for Tilton as long as my residents elect me to do so, but I shall not interfere with my new leader's extremely difficult task of driving change."
Mr Rook was not available to comment yesterday.
