A hyperlocal journalist who has covered meetings of a London council for nine years was ejected after complaining about the seating arrangements.

Blogger Ted Jeory, who regularly covers meetings of Tower Hamlets Borough Council, claims he was told that spaces normally reserved for the press were to be taken up by members of the public.

He was told by the council’s head of communications Takki Sulaiman to sit at the back of the public gallery, but claimed this would leave him without a clear view of the chamber.

Following a heated exchanged Ted was then forcibly removed from the room by council staff.

Ted told the London Evening Standard: “I’ve been reporting on those meetings for nine years now. I go there, I tweet live, thousands of people follow it. It’s almost like a big event, and it’s good for transparency.”

“For a council which has a perception of a lack of transparency nationally, the last thing they should be doing is adding to that perception by removing a journalist from proceedings just because of a little upset from a council officer.

“There were no insults to anybody else, no insults to members of the public or councillors, I was just trying to do my job. I used a word directly between me and him in an altercation over whether he had sent an email to me asking for reserved seats.”

“I did use a term of abuse to him, and I regret using that particular term of abuse, but there are far more terms of abuse I wish I had used.”

In a statement issued to the Standard, Mr Sulaiman insisted Ted had been sent an email beforehand inviting him to reserve a seat there.

He added: “As is normal practice a number of local journalists including Mr Jeory were group emailed asking if they wanted a seat reserved for what was expected to be a packed council meeting.  They were asked to respond if they wanted a seat.

“No response was received from Mr Jeory although a number of other journalists did.”

Tower Hamlets council has previously been singled out for criticism by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles who expressed concerns over its degree of transparency.