Cllr Steve SquiresTHE deputy mayor of Trowbridge has blamed personal pressures for his decision to quit the council just two weeks after his appointment to the role.

Cllr Steve Squires told the Wiltshire Times his dual-resignation from the town council and West Wiltshire District Council on Wednesday had saved him from a nervous breakdown.

Making the decision during a week-long holiday, Cllr Squires said he plans to sell-up and leave the county town for a new life in Cornwall .

"It is down to ill health. I missed a nervous breakdown by the skin of my teeth," he said. "I want to move away from the area to start a new life.

"I have been feeling the pressure. It is not just me, there are others having problems too. It is too much of a commitment to the community.

"There was no sadness at all. I need to keep my sanity and am putting myself first for a change.

"I lost how to have fun and have a social life."

His decision has plunged the town council into more disruption, with a by-election already being held on Thursday to replace councillor Ben Biddulph.

A new deputy mayor should be appointed at an extraordinary meeting, while a second by-election in the town's college ward will be held this summer.

Cllr Squires has been a town councillor for the past five years, and a district councillor for Trowbridge college ward since the last election. He was a member of the Gay Policing Initiative and fought strongly on behalf of west Wiltshire's gay and lesbian population.

Cllr Squires said: "I found it very frustrating how people were so critical of the town but were very slow to help."