A councillor who left a full council meeting after less than an hour said it was a “tough decision”.

Councillors Chandni Mistry and Bharti Gajjar arrived at Hove Town Hall for the meeting last Thursday, but both left before the order of business.

Cllr Mistry left as her Queen’s Park ward colleague Tristram Burden responded to a public deputation about support for vulnerable people in temporary housing outside Brighton and Hove.

Cllr Mistry and Cllr Gajjar sit as independent councillors on Brighton and Hove City Council after being suspended from the Labour Party last year amid allegations over where they live and claims of electoral malpractice.

Cllr Mistry has denied the allegations to The Argus and claimed that she lives “in the heart of Brighton”.

When asked by The Argus why she left the meeting so early, Cllr Mistry said: “Leaving the full council meeting early is a tough decision and I do not recall having ever done so previously.”

Sussex Police told The Argus last month that an investigation is ongoing into claims of electoral malpractice.

Complaints were also filed with the council’s audit and standards committee about two unnamed councillors regarding their place of residence.

Councillors must attend at least one meeting every six months. If they fail to do this, their seat is automatically vacated.

By attending the council meeting last week, Cllrs Gajjar and Mistry can claim their allowances until the start of August.

All four political groupings on the city council have called on the two councillors to resign and trigger by-elections in their respective wards.

A spokesman for the Labour group said: “On behalf of the residents of Kemp Town and Queen’s Park, we are appalled that two of their elected representatives are behaving so badly.

“This not only lets down the people that voted for them and the communities they serve but the council as an organisation and all elected members who enter public service for the right reasons.

“We reiterate our calls for Councillors Mistry and Gajjar to stand down immediately so that the communities in Queen’s Park and Kemp Town can be properly represented by new councillors.”