WRIBBENHALL residents have elected Labour candidate John Iles as their new Bewdley town councillor.

Mr Iles has replaced Nick Lawrence, who prompted a by-election when he resigned from the council due to work commitments.

There was a 17 per cent turnout of voters in the ward, with 509 votes cast. The result was a close-run thing with Mr Iles beating Conservative candidate Leslie Davies by 18 votes.

Mr Iles works from Birmingham as a regeneration consultant looking at deprived housing estates across the country.

He said: "I am very pleased. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the town council on a range of issues."