A market trader has been elected onto a town council which has been embroiled in a bitter row with stallholders.

Tony Leach won the vacant seat on Downham Market Town Council with 438 votes.

He beat Emily Champion, who polled 79 votes in a by-election with a 25pc turnout.

Two traders had their licences revoked by the council after an 18-month dispute over the way the authority has run the market. Both were later reinstated after a successful appeal.

The dispute over the market came to a head in September, when police were called after angry exchanges at a town council meeting.

Angry traders accused the council of imposing a "draconian rulebook" and claimed the market had been "devastated".

But the council said it had made the market bigger and better.