A council has become the first in Scotland to scrap controversial standardised tests for five year-olds introduced by the government.

Fife Council - which is run under a power sharing agreement between Labour and the SNP - voted 41 to 26 to abandon the assessments.

Labour co-leader David Ross, who lodged the successful motion to scrap the tests, said teachers, parents and unions backed the "tried and tested" assessments that were previously in operation in Fife - which will be reintroduced next year.

Kathleen Leslie, education spokeswoman for the Fife Conservative group, added: “The evidence is overwhelming. These assessments are educationally flawed and potentially damaging to such young children.

“Thirty-two minutes for numeracy and 44 minutes for literacy is far too long to expect a five-year-old to undergo an assessment, particularly as they bear little relation to the experiences and outcomes for the early years curriculum.

READ MORE: School tests for five-year-olds leave pupils 'shaking and crying' 

“This is another top down policy by the Scottish Government which is deeply flawed and poorly thought out. I am delighted Fife has voted to withdraw from primary one assessments."

SNP members voted against the bid to scrap the assessments.

The vote comes after the Scottish Government introduced new standardised national assessments for all pupils in P1, P4, P7 and S3.

The tests were introduced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as a response to concerns over falling standards of literacy and numeracy and a lack of consistent data across the country.

READ MORE: Testing of Scottish five-year-olds 'should be scrapped' 

However, critics argue the move to test pupils, particularly in the first year of primary school, is counterproductive and can be upsetting.

Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, said Education Secretary John Swinney had "lost control" of schools' policy.

He said: "His flagship Education Bill was binned, the Budget leaves schools facing teachers’ strikes in a matter of weeks, and now his national testing is no longer national, at least in P1."

The Scottish Government and Fife Council have been contacted for comment.