Councillors took the vote at Mirfield Town Council meeting on Tuesday, meaning Tory Coun Bennett was unable to finish his term of office as mayor.

The move follows a row in February when Bennett sparked outrage with the contents of a leaked email in which he said Muslims "cause mayhem with explosives". He survived calls to resign after town councillors backed him.

The vote was proposed by finance and general purposes committee chairman Coun Stephen Grant, who said Coun Bennett had acted against a resolution given by the committee stating it would not pay for Mirfield Civic Dinner while complaints were being investigated.

Coun Grant said guests at the dinner, at Dewsbury and District Golf Club on March 14, had complained about the entertainment, that the food was bland, and issues were raised about the bar bill. It was resolved the council would withhold payment until the complaints were investigated.

He said: "We wanted certain issues to be noted and the club to register our complaint and Coun Bennett agreed with that.

"Then I discovered he had paid £1986.60 on his own, against the resolution we gave. The council withheld payment until the issues were resolved but Coun Bennet has improperly decided it is within his remit to spend public money contrary to what the committee and the council said. You cannot do that as a mayor or any councillor.

"He needs to acknowledge that this is a big mistake. It is an immoral action which questions whether someone is fit to be in this place."

'concerning'

Coun Martyn Bolt said: "It is regrettable and concerning that somebody would go against the wishes of the council."

Following the meeting Coun Bennett said: "What I did was in perfectly good faith to support the golf club because they had every right to expect to be paid. Not one of these people has given me anything in writing so I can go to the golf club and say this is what is being complained about.

"The finance and general purposes committee were taking a decision about money that was not theirs to make a decision on. It was public money paid by guests at the dinner.

"The proceeds of the civic dinner go to the mayor's charities and it is the mayor's responsibility. I was trying to behave responsibly.

"We have so many things to do in Mirfield and we are spending time on rubbish like this.

"I shall certainly carry on as a councillor. Now I am out of the mayoral position I shall be there to put a bit of stick about.

"I think it is terribly important that people get to know the truth."

Bennett hit the headlines in February this year after an email he sent to the Mirfield Town Council clerk was leaked.