Devizes Area Board is to concentrate its efforts to fight for health services in the town following an electronic straw poll at its meeting last week.

Each of the 51 local people who turned up to Lavington School’s main hall were given a small voting computer to register their option of six shortlisted by the board.

Coun Laura Mayes, chairman of the area board, explained that the board had already set itself five priorities and they were looking for two more.

The ones already chosen are to support the creation of neighbourhood plans to complement and strengthen Wiltshire Council’s core strategies – the creation of a skatepark, campaigns to fight childhood obesity as well as premature death in men, action against air pollution alongside traffic congestion, and the creation of a community farm on land at Bath Road.

Among the six options they gave the audience, the one that achieved the most votes was the fight for health services at 32 per cent.

The closest runner up – more low cost homes for local people – came in with 23 per cent of the votes.

The economy and employment got 21 per cent, the creation of more volunteering opportunities 12 per cent, fighting anti-social behaviour eight per cent and the creation of more allotments just three per cent.