De-selected Ryedale MP Anne McIntosh will not be fighting this election as an independent, she has announced.

Miss McIntosh confirmed yesterday that she does not intend to run for her Thirsk, Malton and Filey seat in May, saying she does not want to "burn her bridges" with the Conservative party.

The MP, who is chairman of an influential Commons environment committee, said she would be campaigning for Tory candidates in marginal seats "where the election will be won or lost", but not for her Ryedale successor Kevin Hollinrake.

She added: "I do not think Kevin is in a marginal seat."

Miss McIntosh admitted that her five years in Thirsk and Malton had been a bruising experience, from the fight for the nomination, to the election campaign extended by the death of her UKIP opponent John Boakes just weeks before polling day in 2010, and her de-selection last year.

She said she was disappointed not to have been re-selected as the Tory candidate in Thirsk and Malton, but not bitter.

She added: "I am deeply grateful to all my supporters, and bear no ill-will to those who engaged in a democratic process to change their parliamentary candidate."

Miss McIntosh said she did not want to "become the story" in the midst of a divisive General Election campaign, and although she had seriously considered standing as an independent candidate, she realised that would only burn her bridges with the Conservative Party.

"There may be times in politics when you want to poke someone in the eye, but you realise you are only going to poke yourself in the eye."

She added: "To all those who have so loyally supported me and who have expressed disillusionment and a sense of being disenfranchised, I urge them to put aside their disappointment and ask them to consider that the alternative would not be good for the constituency, the Conservative Party or, indeed, the country."

During her announcement at Pickering's Conservative Club, Miss McIntosh was flanked by supporters, including former vice chairmen of the association, but the association itself only issued a short statement saying it "acknowledged" her work and wished her well for the future.

She also laughed off suggestions that she was lined up for a seat in the Lords, saying rumours were more than she had heard, and said she had "no big job" lined up after the election.