A respected Gloucestershire county councillor has been forced to resign in shame from the county police authority after being cautioned for theft, it has emerged.

Alan Preest, a Conservative member of Forest of Dean District Council and Gloucestershire County Council, was arrested on suspicion of theft on August 8 following an incident at Tesco supermarket in Lydney two days earlier.

He was given a police caution for the offence.

On August 7, Gloucestershire police said: "We were told there was a man suspected of taking items from the savoury area of the store, putting them in a bag and then leaving the premises without paying.

"He had apparently been confronted outside the store by security officers but ran off. He was pursued by a couple of local men and he returned a little later.

"Our operator who took the call could hear a man shouting that he was a Lydney councillor and a member of the police authority."

In June 2008, Mr Preest, who is also a governor at Whitecross School in Lydney, where his two teenage stepchildren attend, resigned from Lydney Town Council citing an increased workload after joining the district council cabinet as portfolio holder for community wellbeing.

He said: "I just don't have the time now to attend town council meetings. I'll still be working for the town, but at district level."

He said one of his main priorities would be working with police on crime and disorder reduction policies in the area.

Mr Preest denied he had resigned after a row over the town's football club trustees. He also courted controversy after calling for a vote of no confidence in the trustees of Lydney Recreation Ground – who are town councillors – following the club's relegation from the Premier Hellenic League for inadequate ground conditions.

A Gloucestershire Police Authority spokesman said: "Cllr Preest has resigned from his position on the Police Authority with immediate effect."

Yesterday Mr Preest was not available for comment.