A bride and groom, with all their guests, turned up to Exmouth Town Hall on Saturday only to find the room they thought they had booked, was being used for the town and parish council election count.

Not having the heart to ruin the couple's special day, everybody cleared out swiftly and helped get the room ready for the pair to tie the knot.

Once the ceremony was over, people turned back to counting the votes from Thursday's poll.

A total of 3,335 people turned out to vote for Sidmouth candidates in the local elections on Thursday, May 2.

Sidmouth Town Council's chairman Ian Mckenzie-Edwards failed to keep his seat in a surprise twist, along with Marc Kilsbie and Sheila Kerridge.

But the elections saw plenty of fresh faces take up seats on the council, including Councillors Deirdre Hounsom, Emma Murdoch, Charissa Evans, Jenny Ware, Denise Bickley, Marianne Rixson and Christopher Lockyear.

Cllr Bickley said: "I would like to make the town more energised and encourage more young people to have more of an interest in what is going on. I would love to invest in the idea of bringing more evening classes to Sidmouth and I know there are different bands that would come in and do gigs in the park in the summer."

Cllr Jenny Ware said: "I was chuffed to bits (to win a seat).

"I was born in Sidmouth and it is really nice to be able to part of the town council here."

Cllr John Loudoun added: "It's now an interesting moment for the town council, as there's such a large number of new councillors.

"It gives us a real opportunity to build on the hard work of previous councillors, doing what we can to help improve Sidmouth and the Sid Valley."

Cllr Marianne Rixson said: "I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in Sidford.

"I hope that, together with other newly elected members, the town council will adopt a 'can do' attitude, put the needs of our community first and welcome public engagement."

Sidmouth Town Council is now made up of:

Primley: Deirdre Hounsom - uncontested, Emma Murdoch - uncontested and Jeff Turner - uncontested.

Sidbury: John Loudoun - uncontested.

Sidmouth West: Louise Cole - uncontested.

Salcombe Regis: Ian Barlow - 277 votes and David Barratt - 321 votes.

Sidmouth East: Louise Thompson - 166 votes.

North: Charissa Evans - 357 votes, Stuart Hughes - 354 votes, Dawn Manley - 404 votes and Jenny Ware - 358 votes.

Sidford Village: Jack Brokenshire - 209 votes and Marianne Rixson - 328 votes.

South: Denise Bickley - 790 votes, Kelvin Dent - 914 votes, Christopher Lockyear - 552 votes, John Rayson - 329 votes and Paul Wright - 448 votes.