UKIP AM Gareth Bennett has quit the party to back Boris Johnson's Brexit deal - leaving the group with just one representative in the Senedd.

South Wales Central AM Mr Bennett, who was previously leader of the Assembly's Ukip group, will now sit as an Indepedent AM.

He has said he has taken the decision in protest against Ukip's pro-no-deal Brexit position.

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This leaves Mid and West Wales' Neil Hamilton as Ukip's sole AM.

Mr Bennett said: “The British public, who voted to Leave the European Union, have waited three-and-a-half years - and we still haven't left.

“There is now a grave danger that, if Boris Johnson's deal doesn't go through, then we will not leave at all.

“Those of us who wanted a harder deal now have to realise that Boris’s deal is the best we can get at this time. I can no longer support Ukip's unrealistic position on Brexit.

“Farage’s Brexit Party and Ukip are now effectively trying to sabotage Brexit. How do they think we are going to get to their promised land of a Brexit on WTO terms?

“If the Conservatives lose the election, we end up with a Remain Parliament - and we won’t leave the EU at all. I realise that this is what Farage wants, because not leaving is the only thing that keeps him in the news. But I did expect better from Ukip.

“Ukip was supposed to be the Party of Brexit. Now they are acting as though they want to keep the UK in the EU forever.

“I have therefore made the decision to resign from Ukip with immediate effect, in order to sit as an Independent AM, so that I can support Boris’s deal.”

Seven Ukip AMs were elected in May 2016 - the first time the party had won representation in the Assembly. But it has been hit with a spate of resignations and defections.