Nick Hodgson, the chief executive of Derbyshire CC, is to stand down from his £152,000 a year post early next month, it has emerged.

News of the announcement came at yesterday's full council meeting, the first held since the Labour party group retook control of Derbyshire from the Conservatives following the 2 May local elections.

Mr Hodgson, who spent his entire career at Derbyshire, joined the authority in 1975 as a town an county planning assistant - having completed a degree in town planning at Manchester university.

In the early 1980s, Hodgson swapped town planning for corporate planning. He went through the policy unit on to being assistant then deputy chief executive, before taking up the chief executive post in 1997.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire CC confirmed Mr Hodgson is leaving in early June after 38 years with the council 16 as chief executive.