A new councillor who "has a passion for helping and supporting people" has been appointed for the South Ward of Atherstone Town Council this week.

Cllr Stacey Wightman was unanimously voted into office by councillors, having been proposed by Cllr Ray Jarvis.

Two candidates applied for the co-opted vacancy which came after the resignation of Susan Allan-Stubbs.

Cllr Wightman, 39, who has lived in Atherstone her whole life, will join Cllr Jarvis and Cllr Denise Clews in serving the South Ward of the town.

Speaking to Atherstone Nub News, Cllr Wightman said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the councillors for voting for me as the co-option councillor for Atherstone South Ward. I am very much looking forward to working with the councillors to continue their work within the town and to hopefully bring fresh perspective to the team.

"I have volunteered with a variety of different organisations and groups within the town and surrounding areas for the last 20 years and I am very much looking forward to this next chapter.

"I have a lot of love for Atherstone and the town and I will work to the best of my ability to help to continue making it a lovely place to live, work and visit."

Cllr Wightman, who works for a solicitors firm in Nuneaton, said that she decided to run for office to support the local community.

She said: "I applied for the councillors role as I have a passion for helping and supporting people within our community. I have a young teenage daughter who is now nearly 15 and I feel I have more time to concentrate on helping the town, businesses and residents of Atherstone.

"I am really looking forward to learning and also bringing new ideas."

Speaking at Monday's meeting meeting Cllr Jarvis said: "Welcome to Cllr Wightman, I hope that you have a long and prosperous time with the council. And it is nice to see one of the youngsters!"

The full video of last night's meeting can be seen here courtesy of The Stone Channel.