A Tory councillor who resigned his party whip after allegations that he belongs to a "swingers" club was today being removed from the chairmanship of one of the Council's most high-profile committees.

Councillor Andrew Smith was being replaced by his group's chief whip as chairman of the regulatory and appeals panel at today's full Council meeting.

It means Coun Smith - a full-time councillor with no other paid job - will lose his £10,500 special-responsibility allowance for his work as chairman.

He will still receive his £10,600 basic allowance, which includes payment for his telephone.

Tory group chief whip, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, said today it would be "inappropriate" for Coun Smith to continue chairing one of the most high-profile committees while the allegations were being examined by the Local Govern-ment Standards Board.

She added that the Queens-bury ward councillor would retain only one committee place - the right of any councillor - after resigning the whip, while the Standards Board dealt with the issue which was voluntarily referred to it by Coun Smith.

Tory leader Councillor Marg-aret Eaton said the allegations, made in anonymous letters, referred to Coun Smith's private life, not his work as a councillor.

The correspondence contained a photograph of a man with his face obscured, suggested to be Coun Smith, which was said to have been taken from a local swingers-contacts website.

The website describes itself as a way "broadminded" adults can meet and contains adverts inviting people to contact each other for group sex.

The Tory group has stressed that the allegations do not concern any illegal activities.

Today Coun Smith, 36, a governor of two schools, said: "I have received messages of support from residents and it is business as usual in the ward.

"I had to be removed from the committees because I am an independent councillor while I have resigned the whip."

Coun Hawkesworth said it was not yet known which committee he would continue to serve on.