THE candidates for the West Devon Borough Council election for the Lydford Ward have been announced following the closing of nominations on Friday, June 14.
The election is due to be held on Thursday, July 11 following the resignation of Cllr Diana Moyse.
The candidates are James Raymond McInnes of Sourton near Okehampton — a Conservative Party candidate — and Mrs Audrey Dinah Vigni of Princetown — a Liberal Democrat candidate.
Mr McInnes said: 'I feel very strongly that although I don't live in the ward itself, I want to make sure that Lydford and Princetown have a strong local voice.
'The rural community has been through hell in the last 18 months and I want to make sure these people's views are heard.'
It is the first time Mr McInnes has stood for the borough council, though he is a serving Sourton parish councillor.
A farmer, Mr McInnes is also a former chairman of the Hatherleigh and Okehampton branch of the NFU.
Mrs Vigni was a founder member of the Princetown Improvement Group, now known as High Moorland Community Action.
She is also a leading member of the team which puts together the popular craft exhibition at Princetown School, where she has been a member of the parent teacher association.
Mrs Vigni, who has lived in Princetown for 18 years, said: 'It is more than time that Princetown's voice was properly heard at the borough council.
'Princetown has all the problems that Lydford and the outlying forest communities have — Princetown however has problems the other areas don't have and which need a local voice and local knowledge to confront.'
The Lydford Ward covers the parishes of Lydford and Dartmoor Forest — which includes Princetown, Postbridge and Huccaby.
Any elector wishing to make arrangements for absent voting, either by post or by proxy, must make application to West Devon's Elections Officer by 5pm on Wednesday, July 3.