Wiltshire councillor for Calne Central, Howard Marshall, has left the independent group at county hall to become a Conservative representative.

Mr Marshall, who is mayor and town councillor in Calne, was elected in 2009 as a Liberal Democrat councillor by just a single vote.

He later became an independent councillor and has now completed the necessary paperwork to move a second time and join the 60 other Conservative councillors in Trowbridge.

Fellow Calne town councillor and head of the Conservatives in Calne Coun Charles Boase, who was beaten by Mr Marshall in that 2009 election, said he would welcome the move.

The 61 Conservatives councillors at county hall now have a 24 member majority with the Liberal Democrats remaining the second largest party with 21 councillors.