A BY-ELECTION has been called for the College ward, Trowbridge with voters going to the polls in June.

Liam Silcocks, who will stand as an independent candidate, has called the Trowbridge Town Council by-election after collecting the necessary 10 signatures from voters.

A seat became available after the sudden resignation of former Liberal Democrat councillor Ben Biddulph, who quit amid a probe into homophobic comments made in a letter to the Wiltshire Times.

If no candidate had been nominated by early next month councillors would have been given the chance to co-opt a member.

The by-election will be held on June 10 to tie in with the national European elections.

Mr Silcocks, 33, who works for a Trowbridge-based advice service, said: "A year into the town council's lifecycle it would be undemocratic not to go through the election process again to elect a councillor to represent the ward for another three years.

"The people of the College ward should be given the chance to pick a member of the community to act on their behalf."

Liberal Democrat Trowbridge branch chairman Steve Squires said a party candidate would be picked at a selection procedure on April 8.

"We are in the process of trying to find someone," he said.

"Conservative branch chairman Gerry Burnan said he would be calling a meeting in due course. It is normally the practice of the Conservatives to fight elections whenever they are offered."