A trio of Ottery town councillors have been ousted after voters took to the polls in the East Devon elections.

Dignitaries Paul Carter, Anne Edwards and Ian Holmes failed to keep a hold on their seats in Ottery Town after collectively gaining 1,000 votes in total.

They have been replaced by Richard Copus, Stewart Lucas and Dean Stewart, who together gathered 1,840 votes.

Newcomer Mr Copus, who earned 552 votes, moved to Ottery from South Dartmoor two years ago.

He said: “The main reason I moved is because it’s such a lovely town to be in. It has great pubs and shops. Because of that, I wanted to get involved in the community.

“I think putting myself forward for election was a good opportunity to do so.

“I am very honoured to have been elected as a newcomer and I shall do my best over the years to get the know the problems of Ottery St Mary and be part of the team making it a better place to live.”

Mr Copus said his key priorities would be conservation work in the town, making use of its facilities before they are lost and preventing Ottery becoming a ‘dormitory town’ for Exeter.

There was a double scalp in the Ottery North ward election, with serving councillors Josefina Gori and mayor Paul Bartlett both losing their seats to Richard Grainger and Vicky Johns.

For Mrs Johns, who received the lion’s share of the vote (177), it is a first taste of politics.

She revealed she only put herself forward because she was urged to by a select few within the community, adding: “My children are grown up now and I have a bit more time on my hands.

“Before I decided to stand, I asked people what they thought Ottery Town and East Devon District Council could do to help them and that’s what I put on my leaflets.

“I want to work with everybody else - not just the council, but the community.”

There was no change in the Ottery Tipton St. John ward, with Lyn Harding and Geoff Pratt pipping John Harding to the two available seats.

Results for Ottery St Mary elections 2019

North

Richard Grainger (98 votes), Vicky Johns (177 votes)

Tipton St. John

Lyn Harding (154 votes), Geoff Pratt (283 votes)

Town

Richard Copus (552 votes), Glyn Dobson (662 votes), Peter Faithfull (712 votes), Roger Giles (1,175 votes), Stewart Lucas (578 votes), Elli Pang (605 votes), Dean Stewart (710 votes).