ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Westminster city council’s deputy leader is to step aside from his role after it emerged he received gifts and hospitality more than 500 times in three years.

Conservative councillor Robert Davis referred himself to the authority’s monitoring officer last month after it emerged that he had received more than 514 gifts and hospitality invitations since the start of 2015.

The gifts and hospitality packages, which must be declared if worth more than £25, included meals at exclusive restaurants, a trip to the south of France and tickets to top West End shows.

The council’s register of members’ interests showed that he was entertained and received gifts from the property industry 150 times – a rate of almost one a week.

Cllr Davis, who is the longest serving member of the council having being elected in 1982, said in a statement on Wednesday night that he had decided to step aside from his roles as deputy leader and cabinet member for business, culture and heritage while the authority investigates.

He said: “Due to the ongoing interest and wrongful assertions regarding my time as Chairman of Planning I have decided to step aside from my roles as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Business, Culture & Heritage whilst the Council investigates.

“In 17 years as chairman of planning committees which granted hundreds of applications and resulted in the Council receiving substantial sums for affordable housing, public realm and other public amenity, I have at all times acted with the independence and probity required by my role.

“My desire to rigorously declare all meetings and hospitably, regardless of its nature, underpins this transparency and independence.

"It is trite to confirm that within these 17 years, I have got to know many of the developers and associated professionals who work in the city and help to develop Westminster into one of the most important economic centres in the country and home to over 280,000 people.

"Any suggestion or implication that I have done anything other than to further the interests of the city and its residents are baseless and strenuously denied".

Nickie Aiken, the council’s leader, said: “Cllr Robert Davis has referred himself to the City Council’s monitoring officer and has decided to stand aside as Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Business, Culture and Heritage while the investigation is undertaken.

“Our residents need reassurance that the planning process is not only impartial, but is seen to be impartial.

“That is why, when I became Leader over a year ago, I changed the way meetings between developers and the Council take place. It is also why I’ve asked the Council’s Chief Executive to look at all aspects of the decision-making process to ensure planning is, and is seen as, an independent and impartial process.”

He stepped down from his planning role last year after 17 years in charge when Cllr Aiken took over leadership of the borough.

However, he retained responsibility for major development areas in Westminster including Oxford Street, Bond Street, the Strand, Hanover Square and Harrow Road.