North Tawton residents called for greater council unity and an end to council in-fighting at a recent North Tawton Town Council meeting.

In an open letter to the town council, signed by 15 residents, members of the public called for the council to resolve the broken relations between members as the animosity was “impeding the proper functioning of the council as a collaborative rather than adversarial endeavour.”

Signatories to the letter have said that they hope councillors and the clerk will agree to a non-public mediation which would take place in a neutral setting and overseen by an unrelated third party.

They have argued that “it is imperative that this problem is addressed promptly and relations repaired” as it would be “undeniably better if you were able to live amicably as neighbours.”

As yet, there has been no confirmation that a mediation meeting will take place.

In response to the letter, chair of the town council Cllr Colin Lee, said: “The town council acknowledge the concerns raised in the open letter and are in liaison with the monitoring officer at West Devon Borough Council to unite all members to work together for the benefit of the town.

“A democratic process will on occasion lead to decisions that are not favoured by all councillors, or the public we represent.

“The council is on a difficult journey, but we are hopeful that this will be resolved as soon as possible.”

Relations between North Tawton town councillors have become very strained in the last year due to strong disagreements between councillors and staff, which some have put down to differences of opinion and a clash of personalities.