The chairman of Ofsted, the education watchdog, has resigned weeks after he said the Isle of Wight was a "ghetto" where there was "inbreeding".

David Hoare had already apologised for his comments and had offered to visit the island to offer a personal mea culpa to its inhabitants.

He also made a personal call to Jonathan Bacon, the leader of the Isle of Wight council, for having offended the island following reports that even Sir Michael Wilshaw, the current head of Ofsted, was ‘privately incandescent’ over his comments.

'It's been a great privilege'

In a statement, the former City banker said: “I have today informed the Secretary of State that I will be resigning from my position as chair with immediate effect.

“It has been a great privilege to chair the Ofsted board for the past two years. I am pleased that the organisation now has an excellent board in place with expertise across all of our remit areas, including early years and further education.

“I am also pleased that Ofsted has recruited a strong new chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, who is due to take over from Sir Michael in January.

"We have also been able to agree the strategic priorities for Ofsted, focusing on improving the life chances for the disadvantaged children of our country. I will miss working with an excellent team, making a real difference.”