Essex council leader, Lord Hanningfield has resigned after expense charges were brought against him, Computer World has reported.

The council signed the eight-year agreement with IBM to transform its operations and services, and cut costs. However with costs expected to be between £2.3 billion and £5.4 billion, dependent upon the services procured, Essex council has been criticised for the scale of the project after other outsourcing deals had previously gone wrong.

Hanningfield, who initiated the multi-billion-pound outsourcing contract between IBM and Essex County Council in 2009, now faces criminal charges along with four other politicians over his expenses claims.