Mayor Winter said he expects more allegations in the coming months

Martin Winter is being investigated as part of three separate police inquiries and has faced calls to stand down.

They include allegations over election expenses and a separate inquiry into a regeneration project he helped to run.

But speaking at the election count in Doncaster, he said the allegations were part of a political smear campaign.

Watchdog criticism

"Politics is a very dirty game," he said. "I think what we've seen just recently, in the last six months, are some very nasty allegations against me.

"What we'll see in the future, I think, is even more of those."

In January, it emerged that South Yorkshire Police were investigating alleged irregularities in Mr Winter's election expenses following claims he should have included a meeting at Doncaster Rovers ground.

At the time, officers were already looking at the way the Glass Park community project, once run by Mr Winter, was set up after being criticised by a government watchdog.

The most recent allegations centre around the level of Mr Winter's involvement in a recent planning application in Hatfield.