A disgraced senior Tory councillor resigned from two councils after being convicted of downloading child pornography from the internet.

Former foster parent Mike Oram stood down as a councillor on North Dorset district council where he also sat in the cabinet.

Oram, who chaired registered charity North Dorset Volunteer Community Action, has also resigned from Blandford Forum town council. He quit after admitting two offences of accessing and inciting the supply of prohibited material from the internet when he appeared before Bournemouth magistrates early April.

The council's corporate services and specialist information technology member was given a conditional discharge by district judge Louise Delman, but she said the conviction would mean he had lost his good character and standing in the community.

She said "This will cause difficulties for you and your family in the future. I do not necessarily accept your explanation for having stumbled across the images on the web."

Oram was caught in the international Operation Ore investigation, which also identified Who guitarist Pete Townshend accessing a child porn website.

Oram, who lives with his wife Barbara at Iwerne Minster, near Blandford, handed in a resignation letter to the North Dorset district council chief executive, Liz Goodall.

In the letter he said "Public office rightly requires high levels of propriety and standing, this is as much about perception as fact. I acknowledge that even though I was discharged, issues related to my recent appearance in court are likely to undermine my standing."

"Accordingly, after consultation with colleagues and others, some of whom have kindly told me that they wished me to continue, I have decided to follow my earlier expressed inclination and to stand down from both councils."

Oram had been a district councillor for five years and the conviction was related to two offences in 1998 - the year before he was elected. The offences first came to light in an investigation in 2002.

Oram was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £87 costs.