A BOOK of short stories by a popular West Devon author will soon be out in paperback.

Ted Sherrell was delighted to find out this week that his book Looking Towards the Tamar, a collection of short stories set around the Tamar and West Devon, is soon to appear in paperback. It was previously only available in hardback.

The book, which includes tongue in cheek stories about local life, farming, councils and rural villages, has all been drawn from Mr Sherrell's real life experiences as a villager and a councillor on Tavistock Town Council and West Devon Borough Council.

Looking Towards the Tamar is Mr Sherrell's tenth book, but it is the first to have made it to paperback. He said: 'Most books come out in hardback and if they sell sufficiently, they go into paperback. Considering the economic climate, this book's done really well.'

Mr Sherrell said the book could be categorised as 'faction' and although all the names have been changed, some local people might recognise some of the people or characters mentioned in the book.

Looking Towards the Tamar is due to be released in paperback form in late September and will be on sale for £8.95.