IT?S free, it?s easy ? and it?s just a phone call away. Now you can make your mark on West Devon this May by using a postal vote.

With just more than ten weeks to go before the crucial borough and parish council elections on Thursday, May 1, people are being encouraged to plan ahead and apply now to vote by post.

All you have to do is contact West Devon Borough Council?s elections office for an application form on (01822) 813600.

Your postal vote will be sent out a week before polling day and can be posted back direct in a reply-paid envelope. The deadline for postal vote applications is Wednesday, April 23.

The elections are being held for parish, town and borough councillors who will hold their seats for the next four years.

The borough has 44 town and parish councils, including grouped parish councils, with hundreds of councillors representing their communities. Each seat is open for election.

As from May the borough council will have 31 seats representing 21 wards ? an increase of one seat on the current compliment, due to boundary changes.