A senior Green councillor at Glasgow City Council has quit the party over concerns it is not taking the climate emergency serious enough.

Martin Bartos, who has been a councillor since 2012 told his group he would not be seeking re-election and would be sitting as an independent for the rest of his term as a councillor.

Mr Bartos said his decision is mostly related to current events and policy but also goes back as far as 2017 when he was seriously injured in an accident while cycling.

The councillor claims he was verbally abused by a party worker in a pub when he raised concerns over behaviour.

Mr Bartos said “Concerns I had over malfeasance” were “deliberately covered up by the party”.

He said he was cycling home and was distracted when he was involved in the collision which left him in hospital with serious injuries.

He revealed his decision and reasons to quit in a lengthy thread of twitter posts.

He suggested contributory causes of the accident as: “I was very distracted, sightlines partially obstructed and a vehicle didn’t stop in time”.

But he said his man concern was the current policies and priorities of the Scottish Greens.

He said: “Unfortunately, looking beyond the Green ‘brand’, the actions and apparent priorities projected seem to me to prioritise electoral advantage (even ministerial political ambitions) at the cost of rigour and quality; group-think and a cult-like pressure to conform seems prevalent

He added: “My own concerns relate to a lengthy 90-page parliamentary manifesto which doesn’t take climate emergency seriously enough. A manifesto with climate policy flaws of omission and inclusion.”

He said: “So, sadly, I can’t in good faith continue my membership of the Scottish Green Party. I stand by the Glasgow Green 2017 manifesto I stood on & I am not endorsing, or joining, or starting any other party. I intend to complete the last year of my term as an independent councillor.”

A spokesperson for the Green councillors group, at Glasgow City Council, said: “Martin had already decided not to seek re-election as a Green councillor. He has now told us that he wishes to see out the rest of this term as an independent. We respect his decision, thank him for his service and wish him well.”

Mr Bartos was out of step with most of his party and his Green council colleagues on independence as he campaigned publicly for a no vote in 2014.

Mr Batos is also chair of transport body SPT which he was nominated to as a Green councillor.

He has not stated if he intends to step down from that role.

The Glasgow Times attempted to contact Mr Bartos for further comment.