A THIRD Conservative councillor has quit the party in the row over the proposed explusion of rough sleepers from Windsor before the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Windsor and Maidenhead Council leader Simon Dudley prompted outrage when he suggested that people who beg and sleep on the streets should be cleared out of Windsor before the May wedding.

He said they would show the town in a “sadly unfavourable light.”

A no confidence vote in Councillor Dudley was defeated by his party colleagues this week, though two resigned from the Conservative group in disgust.

Councillors Paul Brimacombe and Asghar Majeed now sit as independent conservatives.

Announcing today that he had become the third Tory councillor to quit the party, Geoffrey Hill said: “I cannot continue to lend my support to Councillor Dudley as leader and I do not agree with the majority of my fellow Conservative councillors on this subject.”

A petition against the proposal has attracted tens of thousands of signatures.

Comedian Russell Brand has urged the council in neighbouring Slough to donate a building to help Windsor’s homeless.

A further attempt at a vote of no confidence in Councillor Dudley is expected on January 29.