Dudley Labour group deputy leader is resigning council seat over "concerns for her safety".

Brockmoor and Pensnett Councillor Judy Foster was first elected in 1998 and is the longest serving Labour councillor on the Dudley Labour benches.

Councillor Foster's final day in office will be Sunday and a by-election will be sparked by her standing down.

She told the Express & Star: "I am resigning as a councillor, the reason is concerns for my own safety, I cannot say any more at this time."Councillor Foster did stress she is remaining a member of the Labour Party.

She said: "I have been thinking about resigning for a while but stayed on because I was needed in a leadership role."I will continue working in an activist role on several projects in the area. I am Labour until I die."

Councillor Foster topped the election poll in May in the all out Dudley Council local elections. She received 1,382 votes as Labour had a clean sweep of the seat returning three councillors for the four year term.

As deputy leader of the opposition Councillor Foster received £12,769 on top of her annual member allowance of £12,143.Looking back on her three decade career Councillor Foster said it was too soon to think about her favourite achievements.

She said: "I will leave that to others or until I have time to think about it, I have done so much and met so many great people in my ward and across Dudley.

"As the longest serving female councillor I am proud of helping other women into politics and seeing their careers flourish."

As a female politician Councillor Foster confirmed the amount of abuse she receives due to the advent of social media has rocketed since first elected.

She said: "What I get sent to me can be absolutely vile. And I am not the only one, female politicians of all parties get so much abuse since social media came about."

Councillor Foster has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with Dudley Council concerning complaints made about perceived abuse she received. The outcome of those complaints and the cost to the taxpayer have yet to be made public.