A fourth by-election has been triggered in Breckland following the resignation of councillor Pauline Quadling.

Mrs Quadling, who has been a district and town councillor since 2005, announced that her decision was due to work commitments and ill health.

The Independent Thetford abbey ward councillor, who has resigned from both seats, is the fourth on Breckland Council to step down since June and follows the decision of three Conservative councillors who resigned because of ill heath, moving away and a conflict of interests.

Mrs Quadling, who was mayor of Thetford in 2010/11, said she will now spend her time concentrating on her work as centre manager at the town's Riversdale Centre, which helps vulnerable people.

'Funding might be stopped here at Riversdale and my concerns are keeping it open and I can't give 150pc to Riversdale and 100pc to Breckland,' she said. 'We've also started a mental health group which will be on a Thursday at the same time as Breckland meetings.

'With the town council meetings you can have three in one day so it's a whole day out of Riversdale. It's important to the people of Thetford and we've got to keep it open.'

Mrs Quadling also cited her diabetes and said she had recently suffered with an ulcer.

'When you're working all the time you don't eat properly and I'm hoping it will all calm down,' she said. 'To fit Riversdale and the meetings in, it's been tough. I've enjoyed every moment of it but needs must - perhaps in a few years' time when everything settles down I'll go back but my priority at the moment it's looking after the people of Thetford with Riversdale.'

Last month Conservative candidate Marion Chapman Allen took the district's Harling and Heathlands seat, vacated by Lady Kay Fisher because of a conflict of interests, while fellow Conservative candidate Mike Nairn took the Mid Forest ward, which covers several villages south of Swaffham, following the resignation of Bernard English due to ill health.

Former Attleborough mayor Karen Pettitt won the town's Queens ward for the Conservatives following the resignation of Simon Rogers who moved to Cornwall.

Mrs Quadling's seat could also herald an opportunity for Labour which also ousted as the main opposition party earlier this year when councillor Carl Clark decided to leave the group and the four Independents banded together to create a formal group of their own.

Her resignation leaves Breckland Council with 47 conservatives, three Independents and three Labour.

Acting clerk for Thetford Town Council, Susan Glossop, said: 'She's been a very valued member of the council and obviously though of highly in Thetford and the community so it's a loss to the council.

'She's very well respected and will be sadly missed.'