Tavistock council is appealing for younger people to become councillors after two members resigned at the same time.

Both members are younger than the average age which is thought to be over 50 and both have young families.

The council voted to move the current committee meeting start times by an hour later to 6.30pm as a way of widening access to members with jobs, though other group meetings will remain at 5.30pm.

Cllr Mandy Ewings told the meeting she was ‘saddened’ by the resignations. She said the council needed more younger members for new relevant ideas.

Trudy Eperon and James Ellis, who was deputy mayor, have both left the council in the past month. Trudy, who has two children, aged nine and five, joined as a member a year ago, but struggled to combine her personal and civic life.

She said: ‘I joined the council because I’m interested in my community and would like to help change things for the better if I can. There’s a great sense of community in Tavistock and many younger people are part of this, but, despite my good intentions, I can’t do the role justice. I can’t be as good as I want to because I can’t commit the time it requires. There’s a lot of work to do behind the scenes if you want to make a difference.

‘My wife’s a head teacher and doesn’t get home til after seven and I home-school and go on visits for that. If you have a job and a family, it’s very hard to do what is an important role. It’s unfortunate because the council and many others become dominated by older retired men.

‘I would very much like to come back and be a councillor again in the future.’