Patrick Pelata, chief operating officer of Renault, has resigned his post following the carmaker's botched handling of debunked spying claims.

However Pelata will remain with the group.

Renault accepted Pelata's resignation at an extraordinary board meeting on Monday to discuss the findings of an audit into the matter, which saw three employees fired amidst claims of technical information leaks, however the three have since been cleared.

"The audits thus evidenced the chain of failings and dysfunctions within the company, particularly as regards the supervision and control of the group security department," a Renault statement said.