A HOLSWORTHY district councillor has been re-elected as the leader of Torridge District Council for the seventh year.

The authority will continue to be led by Cllr Ken James, the Torridge District Council member for Milton and Tamarside, a division he shares with Cllr Nigel Kenneally.

Cllr James will continue to lead the council as it goes towards potential reorganisation - and with the additional workload expected, he has put forward a proposal to elect two deputy leaders to manage it.

A decision on the proposal will be made at the Torridge District Council meeting on June 22, where the council will formally choose who will serve in the roles.

Cllr Doug Bushby was re-elected as chair of Torridge District Council at the meeting, which also nominated the councillors that will serve as chairs and vice chairs of the council’s committees.

Cllr James, re-elected leader of Torridge District Council, said: "I would like to thank my fellow councillors for once again supporting my election as leader. I think we all agree that we have a difficult year ahead as we negotiate and navigate our way through the process of Local Government Reorganisation, whilst continuing to work through the day-to-day the issues that affect our residents.

"Over the next twelve months we will also continue with our pledge to look for opportunities to grow our economy and improve jobs and training prospects for local people. This is something that I feel very passionate about and as many of the regeneration projects resulting from the Community Regeneration Partnership Scheme come to fruition, we have much to look forward to."

Cllr Bushby, re-elected chair of Torridge District Council, said: "I would like to express my appreciation to my fellow councillors for their vote of confidence in me and for my re-election as chair of Torridge District Council - it's truly a great honour.”