Five Carmarthenshire councillors have defected from Labour amid claims of “bullying and harassment tactics” from the party’s leadership.

They will now serve as independent councillors – with a further four Llanelli town councillors heading in the same direction.

Spokesman Jeff Edmunds, who is both a county and town councillor – and former leader of the Labour group – said: “It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that we’ve decided to leave the Labour Party and become independent councillors.”

He said he and his fellow defectors “believe the current leadership is adopting bullying and harassment tactics to ‘whip’ its membership, along with other practices that we can neither accept or condone”.

Cllr Edmunds said he and his colleagues asked last year for an investigation to be carried out to look into their concerns.

“This was felt to be unnecessary by certain individuals and the consequence of that decision is now apparent,” he said.

Cllr Edmunds claimed the party leadership did not include them in decision-making, and that an “us and them” attitude was allowed to grow within the party.

He said: “We could no longer continue under such a regime.”

And he reckoned more Labour councillors could follow suit.

Labour gained a councillor in January when Rob Evans joined the party.

Carmarthenshire Labour group leader Rob James accused Cllr Edmunds of throwing his toys out of his pram.

In a statement Cllr James said: “I am extremely disappointed that the former leader of the Labour group has chosen to be a divisive character in the group since losing the leadership and now decided to throw his toys out of the pram and leave.”

He added: “Politics is not about your own financial interests, it is about serving the communities that elected you.

“Residents voted for Labour councillors in these wards and it is only right that all those that have defected put themselves forward for election.”

Cllr James told the Local Democracy Reporter Service that he was surprised and “a bit shocked” by the defections.

He said the five in question had not come to him to say what their issues were, nor asked him or Welsh Labour’s executive committee to investigate any matters last year.

On the decision-making exclusion claim, Cllr James said: “All decisions are made by the group. It’s a completely democractic system.

“Jeff’s attendance in the group was less than 25 per cent.”

The four Llanelli town councillors switching from Labour to independent include leader Shahana Najmi, who said she will continue in her role as she had the support and confidence of the majority of her fellow town councillors.

She said: “I feel I can no longer carry out my duties from within the Labour Party due to internal party political interests clouding decision-making.”