WEST Yorkshire's Mayor Tracy Brabin has commented after Louise Haigh resigned as Transport Secretary.

Ms Haigh stepped down from the post after it emerged she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

She said that she was mugged in London and gave police a list of stolen possessions, including a work phone, when she reported the incident.

Ms Haigh, Sheffield Heeley Labour MP since 2015, said she later found the phone was still in her house.

In a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, she said: "I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake.

"I appreciate that whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this Government and the policies to which we are both committed."

It is understood the incident was disclosed to Sir Keir when she joined the shadow cabinet.

Ms Haigh pleaded guilty in court over the incident on the advice of a solicitor and magistrates gave her the "lowest possible outcome", she said in a statement.

It is understood that it was a fraud offence and that the conviction is now spent.

On Thursday evening, Sky News and the Times newspaper reported that Ms Haigh had admitted an offence in 2014 following the incident.

Just yesterday, Mayor Brabin and Ms Haigh were pictured together in Leeds at the launch of the Government's Integrated National Transport Strategy.

This morning, Mayor Brabin said: "Louise Haigh was an extremely effective Transport Minister who lived her mantra 'move fast and fix things'.

"Her approach to working closely with local leaders to co-create solutions to old problems was refreshing, and the elegant and stoic way she responded a sign of her character."

She added: "I hope the new Transport Secretary will continue Lou's vision for an integrated approach to transport that will benefit the whole country, and continue to work in close partnership with mayors and local leaders to deliver for the public."

Sir Keir said in his reply to Ms Haigh that she had made "huge strides" as Transport Secretary to take the rail system back into public ownership through the creation of Great British Railways and investing £1 billion into vital bus services.

"I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future," he added.