By GARETH WYN WILLIAMS Daily Post Reporter, originally published on http://www.dailypost.co.uk/ 

A NORTH Wales AM has left the Assembly's Ukip group to sit as an independent member.

Nathan Gill, who was elected to Cardiff Bay just three months ago, said he was leaving the Senedd's Ukip group as "infighting had become a distraction" from their work.

He will, however, remain a Ukip member of the European Parliament.

Mr Gill has become increasingly estranged from the party's Assembly group over recent months after losing out on the group's leadership to Neil Hamilton AM, despite being appointed as the party's Welsh leader by Nigel Farage.

Since then, he has repeatedly defied the Quit: party's demand for him to stop "double jobbing" and resign as an MEP, with members currently being balloted on whether he should be allowed to keep both of his elected roles.

In a statement, Mr Gill, who lives in Llangefni, said: "After much deliberation I have decided to break away from the Ukip group in the Welsh Assembly and sit as an independent.

"Too much time has been wasted on infighting over issues that cannot be resolved and it has been a distraction to the work we were elected to do.

"I remain Ukip Leader in Wales and am committed to serving my constituents."

A note attached to the statement said: "From midday today Nathan Gill will be sitting in the Welsh Assembly separately from the the party's group as an Independent but remains a Ukip MEP in the European Parliament Nathan Gill and as nominated leader of the party in Wales.

"Nathan will not be doing any further interviews on this matter as he believes too much time has already been expended on persistent feuds in Ukip and chooses rather to focus on his work."

In response, Plaid Cymru's Llyr Gruffydd AM said that Mr Gill's "half-resignation" shows that Ukip is "in chaos and in crisis".

He added: "As predicted by Plaid Cymru prior to May's elections, Ukip cannot operate as a serious force in the Assembly.

"Since being elected, Ukip Assembly Members have done virtually nothing for Wales.

"They do not offer any kind of alternative to Labour or the Tories, and it is a tragedy for that they have been elected here moments before imploding as a national and UK political force."

Conservative AM, Janet Finch-Saunders, added: "This latest development doesn't bode well for voters who entrusted Ukip this past May.

"This latest, bizarre twist, is typical of what we've come to expect over recent months on Ukip's benches."