A Wycombe Labour candidate who was due to represent the party at a by-election this Thursday has been suspended days before residents go to the polls, the Bucks Free Press understands.

Israr Rashid was standing as Labour’s candidate in the Totteridge and Bowerdean by-election to find a new county councillor after the sad death of Cllr Chaudhary Ditta last year.

Residents in the area will vote in their droves on Thursday, February 7 – but it is understood that if Mr Rashid is elected, he will be an independent councillor while suspended from the Labour Party.

A Labour Party spokesman said they could not comment on an “ongoing legal matter”.