A by-election will take place after a councillor was charged with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy.

Hackney Council deputy speaker Lee Laudat-Scott, 48, quit ahead of his appearance at Thames Magistrates' Court on July 18, where he was charged with “intentionally touching” a child.

He is also accused of sexually touching a man without consent in a separate incident.

He is next due to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Thursday (August 15).

Laudat-Scott was elected as deputy speaker in May and had sat on the the council’s children and young people’s scrutiny commission.

The by-election in the London Fields ward is one of two council votes to be held on September 12.

Voters will also go to the polls in Stoke Newington, after former Cllr Mete Coban resigned following his City Hall appointment as deputy mayor for environment and energy.

Applications to register to vote must reach the Electoral Registration Officer by midnight on August 27.