INVERCLYDE Council's depute leader has promised she'll "do her best" for the people of the area after the resignation of leader Stephen McCabe.

Councillor McCabe stepped down on Friday after appearing in court in connection with allegations of assault and threatening or abusive behaviour.

His deputy, Natasha McGuire, will now lead the council on an interim basis until the next full council meeting early next month.

He pleaded not guilty to the two charges against him and is due to return to court in the new year.

Councillor McGuire told the Tele: "It's an honour to be in the position that I currently am, but it's quite disappointing because it's happened in the most chaotic and unexpected circumstances.

READ MORE: Stephen McCabe steps down as Inverclyde Council leader after court appearance

"From my perspective, you step up and do what needs to be done to keep things moving.

"Inverclyde as a local authority doesn't stop just because something like this has happened, personally or politically, to a council member.

"It's not something that you expect to happen, if I'm being honest.

"In a local authority you just step up and you make sure that you do the best you can do.

"Working alongside the officers that I currently do, I trust them fully to help push forward priorities for Inverclyde at this time.

"Inverclyde is a beautiful and wonderful place, filled with wonderful people. What we want to do is to build public services that provide the best for the people that work, live or choose to live here.

"All that I want is the very best for my constituents and for the people of Inverclyde."

The position of council leader is one that requires a vote of councillors to fill, with the next full council meeting not due to happen until December 5.

READ MORE: Inverclyde Council leader appears in court charged with assault

"Councillor McCabe has never made me feel like I was worth anything less than him," Cllr McGuire continued.

"I've not been in the position of council leader before, nor did I expect to be. Sometimes when you're younger and you grow up in particular circumstances you don't really see what could be. 

"Stephen never hindered my development and he never did anything to stop that. That's what makes it quite unexpected, because it's not a handover.

"Nobody has expected this, and we've had to be reactive as opposed to proactive, which has been really hard."

Councillor McCabe was suspended on an interim basis by the Labour party pending the outcome of an investigation into the allegations against him.

The council's SNP opposition group had called on Cllr McCabe to resign following the news earlier this month that he had been arrested and charged.

SNP group leader Cllr Elizabeth Robertson said: "We welcome the news that Councillor McCabe has now stepped down as leader of the council. We called for this, come Tuesday, two weeks ago for that to happen.

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"The delay in between that time has been incredibly unfortunate. In that time there has been an absence of communication or an understanding of what responsibility was lying with whom for what.

"We want to know what the terms of Councillor McCabe's suspension from the Labour group means for what happens within the council on a day-to-day basis. 

"These are the questions that we will be asking, and whilst we appreciate that he has stepped down, we called for this almost two weeks ago.

"It's incredibly unfortunate that it's taken so long for this to happen."

Stuart McMillan, the SNP MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, said: “This is a live case so I cannot and won’t comment on the allegations.

"Regarding Councillor McCabe’s decision to stand down as council leader, I believe this is the right decision. This allows Inverclyde Council to focus on the task at hand without distraction.”