JAYNE Hill is the new Okehampton representative on West Devon Borough Council but rather than shouting it from the rooftops she is more concerned about people's apathy which resulted in her being elected unopposed.

Mrs Hill from The Old Manse, Prospect, Okehampton, is filling the vacancy left by popular councillor David Hatch who died last month.

'We live in a democratic country and people's apathy bothers me more than anything,' she said. 'I got in without any competition and that's not a fair fight.

The councillor was invited to stand for the position by Torridge and West Devon Conservative Association, of which Mr Hatch was a member.

Although not a member of the association, Mrs Hill said she always had a lot to say and had quite strong political views.

'I am full of opinions and I think someone saw something in me that would make me good councillor material,' she said.

Mrs Hill said she was looking forward to the challenge although she had a lot to learn.

The mother-of-two divides her time between working part-time as a food technology teacher at Tavistock College and practising homeopathy.

'It will be a bit of a juggle and I have already made it clear I am not going to be able to step into the shoes of David Hatch,' she said.

'By all accounts Mr Hatch was a very good councillor — very committed and very involved — I will not have the time to be like him but I will try and do my best for people.'

Mrs Hill describes herself as 'direct and a free spirit' but before making her mark on the council, her number one priority is to learn the ropes.

'There is nothing worse than diving in when you do not know what you are doing,' she said.

The new councillor, who moved from Kent to Okehampton with her family ten years ago and ran The Dovecote cafe for three years, feels the town is up and coming and has a lot of potential.

'I love Okehampton and although it would have made sense to move to Exeter a couple of years ago when my husband was made redundant because of the work opportunities we stayed here because it is a great place.

'I want to see Okehampton become a really thriving town. It is a time of major change for the town with all the new housing planned and I think it is important we get it right.

We need to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to cater for all these extra people.'

Mrs Hill's election means the Tories have maintained their strength on the boprough council.

The party has nine seats, the Independents 13 and the Liberal Democrats eight.