WHITEHILL Town Council will not call a by-election to fill its vacant seat, as a full election is just months away.

Following the resignation of Conservative councillor Alan Waterhouse on October 1, members agreed it would not make sense to spend thousands on a public vote and will instead leave the seat empty until May.

Mr Waterhouse, who remains a district councillor, stood down with immediate effect but declined to comment on the reason.

Whitehill Town Council leader Conservative Mark Davison explained: “We have seen a number of elections across East Hampshire recently, each one a considerable cost to the electorate.

“This cost, around £5,000, combined with the short period of time before May’s elections were key factors in me deciding not to push for a by-election in Whitehill and Bordon. We currently have 14 out of 15 volunteer councillors working well together for the benefit of our community, and we will continue to do so until May, whereupon all 15 seats will be up for re-election.”

Andy Tree, leader of minority group the Whitehill and Bordon Community Party, said that although the party would have “enjoyed the opportunity to fight a by-election”, the “reality is that the newly elected councillor would have held office for just over four months before the main May 2019 elections”. He agreed there was no way to “morally justify” such expense to the public purse.

“Our focus will now be local elections of May 2, 2019, when we hope to stand candidates to win a majority of seats across Whitehill and Bordon, to take control of the town council,” he added.