British techno act Prodigy announced the departure of dancer Leeroy Thornhill on Tuesday.

"Leeroy's departure from the band is obviously not going to affect the music," Prodigy programmer and bandleader Liam Howlett said in a statement. "We are both into different things and moving in different directions, but I respect him and wish him good luck with what he does."

Thornhill said he would begin working on his own music, under the name Flightcrank.

"I have been a full member of Prodigy for a brilliant nine years, but I wish to concentrate fully on my own music," he said in a statement. "I wish the band all the best for the future."

The remaining members of Prodigy — Howlett and vocalists Keith Flint and Maxim Reality — are in the studio recording their upcoming album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, due in 2001.

Rumors have circulated that the album would be their last, though a spokesperson denied them, saying, "We hear that with every album."

Prodigy formed in Essex in 1990 and spurred the explosion of electronic music in the U.S. with their acclaimed 1997 album The Fat Of The Land, which spawned the singles "Breath," "Firestarter" and the controversial "Smack My Bitch Up."