IT is hard to believe it is a year since protesters thronged around a tree in Devizes Market Place, spurred on by Kennet District Council's apparent lack of consultation over the changes to the centre of the town.

And what has changed in the last 12 months? The Market Place is still littered with pavement work. Businesses have closed and traders are worried about the future.

One change has been the emergence of The Devizes Guardians, a group which grew out of those protesters.

It has already won a seat on the council and now those remaining district councillors who rode roughshod over the feelings of the town must be shifting uncomfortably in their seats at the thought of the elections next May.