OKEHAMPTON has another new town councillor after a close and hard fought by-election.
Maureen McDonald, representing the Conservatives, has been elected as the new town councillor for Okehampton East.
She received 454 votes whereas her opponent, Jackie Reynolds, representing the Liberal Democrats, received just 17 votes less with 437.
Mrs McDonald said: 'My priority now is to continue to listen to the concerns of local people and to work as hard as I can to address them.
'Right at the top of my list is the excessive level of new development planned for Okehampton which I will continue to resist wherever possible.'
Mrs McDonald, a teacher for 25 years, has lived in Okehampton for more than a decade and during this time has worked hard to secure a better education for children.
Among the issues Maureen has campaigned for are the dispensary at Okehampton Medical Centre, situated close to where she lives in the Giblands estate, to be saved from potential closure.
She has also been an outspoken critic of any new development in Okehampton taking place before improvements are made to the town's infrastructure.