Mid Devon District Council Lawrence Ward (Crediton) election candidates for May 2 are (two to be elected):

JUDI BINKS - Conservative

JUDI has lived in Mid Devon with her husband Martin since 1986, teaching at Queen Elizabeth’s Community College.

She lived in Crediton for many years in Union Terrace and now lives just outside the town.

She has served as a Mid Devon District Councillor for the neighbouring ward of Sandford and Creedy for the past four years where she has a proven record of challenging housing developments if they are not built in the right place, impact negatively on the environment or overload local infrastructure.

Creedy Bridge is a good example of this, where Judi helped limit the scale of the development to protect Creedy Valley.

Passionate about local healthcare provision Judi has served as Vice-Chair of Crediton Hospital’s League of Friends and has been a volunteer for Health Watch Devon.

She is an active campaigner on road safety; previously acting as both Chairman and Secretary of the Crediton Traffic Action Group.

DAN WEBB - Conservative

DAN lives in Lawrence Ward in Town Park and runs a local, independent coffee shop in Market Square.

He is a retired firefighter and a former Crediton Town Councillor where he sought to represent and promote the interests of local traders and improve road safety.

He is an active charity fundraiser and is involved with the running of local events such as the Crediton Food Festival.

Dan believes the success of any town stems from its economy and having a community that people are proud of and feel safe in.

After some appalling break-ins at businesses in the town over the last couple of years Dan wants to see increased CCTV coverage in the town to deter criminal behaviour and help police make arrests and prosecutions where appropriate.

FRANK LETCH - LibDem

After 25 years teaching Frank took early retirement to bring up his five children following the untimely death of his young wife.

When all the children were settled he moved to Crediton in 1998.

Retaining his interest in education and people with disabilities he became governor of both Crediton primary schools, chairman of Crediton and District Access Group and now works with Devon in Sight.

He is a Trustee of Involve and Chairman of Crediton’s Health and Well-Being group.

Frank is a Town Councillor and has been elected mayor for the past 11 years. He is a very active District Councillor and seeks to use his membership of the Planning Committee to prevent speculative developments and to ensure infrastructure (roads, doctors, etc) are in place ahead of new development. He fought for Crediton to have the same deal as car parks in Tiverton and was instrumental in delivering a new "Trim Trail" in Newcombes Meadow and reducing the size and impact of the proposed Homeleigh Garden Centre.

In 2015 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for services to people with disabilities and the community of Crediton.

ANDI WYER - LibDem

ANDI and his wife moved to Crediton 17 years ago and they have both lived and worked here ever since. Both their children attend QE.

He became a town councillor in 2002 and has spent the last five years working on the Neighbourhood Plan intended to ensure the wishes of the people of Crediton are built into the planning process.

He values the community spirit in our town and has undertaken special training to enable him to carry out various volunteer duties at events including Christmas in Crediton and as a Snow Warden so can be seen out at 5am on icy mornings gritting and clearing strategic footpaths.

He is a founding member and Vice-Chair of the Newcombes Meadow Community Group which raised the money for, designed and delivered, the new play area.

A former shopkeeper, Andi is passionate about the shops and businesses within our town and recognises that they are one of the main reasons that Crediton is such a special place.

He is concerned that Mid Devon District Council focuses too much on Tiverton at the expense of Crediton.

For this reason he believes that Crediton needs its four District Councillors to be strong voices to make sure that the town gets heard.

MICHAEL SZABO - UKIP

MICHAEL and his wife have lived in Crediton for 24 years, their sons attending the local schools and fully involved in many of the town’s sporting teams.

He has been a pro-active town councillor for eight consecutive years and the "Britain in Bloom" co-ordinator for the last seven years.

He says his skills include identifying and initiating work required to complete many neglected jobs in Crediton.

These have included resurfacing footpaths, painting railings, recovering and painting historical heritage features, building new planters and many more, to give Crediton the "well loved look".