At Cheddar's annual parish council meeting on Tuesday (May 25) Derek Bradley-Balmer was elected as chairman for the forthcoming year, succeeding Peter Colton who stepped down having held the position for the past five years.

Councillor Bradley-Balmer only joined Cheddar Parish Council in November last year, but brings a wealth of experience from involvement in community organisations prior to moving to Cheddar in 2012.

He was brought up in the north of England where his family were farmers and understands what it means to live in a rural community.

He also recognises the difficulty of balancing the needs of visitors and residents, and believes he can bring a fresh outlook to that.

Speaking of his election and desire to help the local community he said: "I retain an unashamed northern philosophy in all I do.

"That means taking pride in your neighbourhood, dealing fairly with your neighbours and speaking honestly at all times."

In other appointments made at the annual meeting, councillor Lyn Goodfellow was re-elected as vice-chair of council, Paul Fineran and Clive Panchaud were re-elected as chairmen of the Policy and Resources Committee and Planning Committee respectively.

Adrian Male was elected as chairman of the Highways and Open Spaces Committee in succession to Anne Fontaine.