Dundee's Lord Provost has claimed that it was implied he could receive an OBE if he gave up office early.

John Letford says the suggestion came from Labour Group Leader Kevin Keenan in a bid for him to give way to another councillor, Ian Borthwick.

Councillor Letford told STV News: "He asked me if I would give Baillie Borthwick the last two years of my tenure of office and subsequently, because of that, I may get an OBE.

"I found that distasteful and insulting and I obviously told him 'no'.

However, councillor Keenan sharply denied the allegation. He said: "I have absolutely no influence on anyone in this city getting an OBE or otherwise.

“I would indeed ask if John has ever used his position to deliver for anyone in the city. John's the Lord Lieutenant; he's closer to the Queen than I am.”

Mr Letford announced his resignation from Labour earlier this week..

He intends to vote with the SNP at a special meeting on Monday in a move which will give the nationalists control of the council after decades of Labour dominance.

Two weeks earlier the SNP clinched victory in a crucial by-election, bringing their tally of council seats to 14 out of 29. They are the biggest party on the council but have been locked out of office by a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition informally backed by the Conservatives.

Mr Letford claimed his resignation stemmed from a resistance within his party to opening up leadership of council committees to members from other parties.

He initially said there were other reasons that would remain private but he has now decided to make the OBE allegation public.

Mr Letford said the reason for Labour's suggestion that the independent Mr Borthwick take over was to " keep him on board."