The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, yesterday sacked Steve Norris from the board of Transport for London.

In a statement released on Wednesday evening, Livingstone said: "'I have informed Steve Norris this evening that with immediate effect he has been removed from the board of Transport for London because of his gratuitous attacks on the board's transport policy.

"Furthermore, Mr Norris has accumulated a number of paid transport-related consultancies that have made his position on the board increasingly untenable since he is conflicted out and is therefore unable to participate in most of the board's key debates."

The appointment of Norris raised many eyebrows. A former Conservative transport minister, Norris ran as the Conservative candidate in the mayoral election. In interviews he had raised objections over plans to charge motorists driving into central London saying it was a tax that would hit the poorest hardest and he would be happy to throw his payment from the wheel of his Bentley.

TfL is an executive arm of the Greater London Authority and reports to the mayor. It is responsible for the delivery of the mayor's integrated transport strategy.