The £200,000-year chief executive of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has quit after a fall out with Mayor Dr Nik Johnson.

Eileen Milner took on the role after the former civil servant left the Education and Skills Funding Agency to “go for a new challenge”.

Behind the scenes at the Combined Authority there has been acrimonious tension between Dr Johnson and Ms Milner which has become so bad they have rarely met in person.

Ms Milner has told the board that the “negative impact” of recent months had affected her health and wellbeing.

She said it was “simply not possible” for her to remain.

Some of the Conservative members of the combined authority have sided with Ms Milner in recent months which culminated in a call for a vote of no confidence in the mayor.

But the combined authority’s own legal officers suggested that a special meeting could not be called during purdah, the period before any local or national elections when political activity is constrained.

Conservative board members plus Austen Adams, chair of the business board and a voting member, were keen for an early vote of no confidence.

The matter will become more complicated today if, as expected, there are changes of political control in those parts of the county which are having elections.

Matters affecting the chief executive and the mayor are said to stem from claims made by a whistle blower.

Note: This a developing story and more to follow