A by-election will be held next week to find a new town councillor for Dereham after the ward representative left the country.

Stuart Green was the councillor for the Central East ward but having not attended council meetings for six months he was automatically suspended from the post.

Two people have been nominated for the role by their political parties - Ben Frith, who lives in Quebec Road, is a candidate for the Conservative Party; and Graham Hayden, of Andrew Goodall Close, represents the Labour party.

An election will take place on Thursday, March 31, and all households in the ward, who are on the electoral roll, will be eligible to vote.

Mayor Linda Goreham said they were aware that Mr Green had moved to Ireland and was not coming back but as he had not officially resigned from the post protocol had to be met before a by-election could be held.

'You have to wait six months before you can do anything,' she said. 'He had missed six months of meetings in January so the vacancy was announced.'

She said they wanted someone on the council who was reliable, proactive and able to give their time to the position.

'At the moment the ward does not have a councillor so they need to represent that small area,' she said.

'We also want someone who will rub along with the rest of the town council because we are a team and we are all fighting for the same goals, we hope.

'They need to be known in their community because that is what being a town councillor is all about, looking at local issues.'

* What issues do you think the town council should look into? Email kathryn.cross@archant.co.uk.