The deputy leader of Bradford Council said today he stepped down after making a Nazi-style salute for the sake of party members and supporters.

Councillor Simon Cooke, who also resigned as the Tory party deputy, quit after the outcry which followed the salute and his calling out "Seig Heil" during a Council meeting.

But insisted he is not a "nasty politician".

Coun Cooke issued apologies and initially said he would not resign, but today said he was forced to make the decision to stand down after talks with his party's members and political colleagues.

He said: "I think the response to what I did caused a great deal of embarrassment and upset to members and supporters of the Conservative party so I feel this was an appropriate decision.

"We all make mistakes and some councillors may feel 'there but for the grace of God go I', because some of the things that are said in the chamber are not pretty." But he added: "I am not a nasty politician."

Leader of the Council Margaret Eaton said it was right that she should accept her deputy's resignation.

She added: "He said to me that he had expressed in writing his most sincere apologies.

"He did not have any intention of offending anyone but he felt his actions were having an effect on his colleagues so he put their interests ahead of his own.

"I am saddened as a close colleague. But I think it was the right decision.

"When I spoke to him he was very distressed and he appreciated it was a necessary action but he did not do it lightly."

Councillor Lynne Joyce (Lab, Keighley South), the German-born councillor who had been speaking in the Council chamber just before the incident, said: "I think it is right and proper for him to do what he has done."

Councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of the Labour Group, said: "I am glad to see he has done the honourable thing, after some prompting, and I hope the Council can move forward."

Coun Cooke, a marketing consultant and writer by profession, has represented Bingley Rural since 1995.

In the 2001 general election he lost a bid to become the Conservative MP for Keighley.

A Council spokesman said he remains in place as a ward councillor, a member of the Council's Executive and as portfolio holder for corporate and regeneration issues until the elections in June.