A member of Colyton Parish Council has resigned, saying there is too much "animosity and bad feeling" between the communities of Colyton and neighbouring Colyford.

Howard West announced his immediate resignation following Monday evening's council meeting.

In a letter sent to the parish clerk and all councillors, he wrote: "It is with some regret that I decided to resign as a Colyton parish councillor with immediate effect, as at the end of last evening's council meeting.

"I have put every effort that I could muster to support the work of the council, but I feel that I have reached the end of my tether in witnessing what is going on, or not going on, in the council on a day to day basis.

"There is so much animosity and bad feeling towards Colyford in general, and I feel that I have failed in trying to bring the two communities together, as has been seen in the last few months in particular.

"At the same time, I have done everything I could to assist in solving many of the Colyton-based matters, as and when these have occurred."

Mr West also raised issue with long-serving council chairman Andrew Parr being re-elected for another year.

He continued: "You heard in my resignation speech that I feel strongly that the council chairman should stand down after three years, to make way for a replacement with his or her ways of chairing the council.

"Our current chairman Andrew Parr has now been re-elected to serve his 14th or 15th consecutive term of office, which I and others feel is not good for the community as a whole."

Mr West called for a vote of no confidence in Cllr Parr in December 2020, which failed by one vote.

He also verbally resigned from the parish council in October 2020 over arguments surrounding the Neighbourhood Plan, but later rescinded this before submitting a formal written notice of resignation.

The process of establishing a Neighbourhood Plan, which aims to guide future sustainable change, growth and development within the parish, has been plagued with controversy over the past five years, with claims of "turf wars" between Colyton and Colyford and a mass resignation of volunteers back in 2016, which included Mr West.

Commenting on the Neighbourhood Plan in his resignation from Colyton Parish Council this week, Mr West said: "The way that the Neighbourhood Plan was pushed through without any real discussions prior to both the Regulation 14 and 16 processes, was unforgivable, and many important comments received during the process were not even discussed by the council.

"I will not say any more about many other matters of my concerns. However, I do hope that Colyton Parish Council does face up to these problems, and the future situation improves dramatically."

Colyton Parish Council declined the opportunity to respond to Mr West's comments.

Mr West's resignation leaves two vacancies on the council, after Eddie Jones also recently stepped down, with three positions having just been filled by an election last month.

The current vacancies will be filled by election if 10 or more electors call for a vote, or otherwise will be filled by co-option.