IT was deadlock at Bude-Stratton Town Council last Thursday when two candidates sought to fill a vacant seat on the authority.

Peter Kelly and Robert Blewett had put themselves forward for co-option to the seat, which had fallen vacant due to the resignation of Cllr Lesley Watson.

The two spoke to councillors in the Parkhouse Centre about why they wanted to join the council and how they felt they had the qualities to make a difference.

No stranger to many of the current town councillors, Mr Kelly had been a member of the council up until the last election when he stood down due to work commitments.

Now fully retired, he said: “I used to love my job on the council, and I hope I did a good job when I was here.

“I’m a Londoner born and bred, but Bude is my adopted home that I love.”

Ballot papers were distributed by town clerk Donna James to all 12 councillors present.

Once the votes were counted, it was a tie, with six councillors voting for Mr Kelly and six for Mr Blewett.

Miss James explained that the procedure in the event of a tie was to conduct a second round of votes, and duly distributed the ballot papers again.

Once more the votes were cast — and once more it was a tie.

Councillors began to put forward suggestions of how best to decide the outcome, but an assured Miss James explained that after the second round of votes, it was then in the hands of the mayor to have the casting vote.

After further deliberation, mayor Cllr Lea Deely decided Mr Kelly would get the nod ahead of Mr Blewett.

But Cllr Deely offered Mr Blewett some words of encouragement and asked him to keep trying when vacancies come up.