Voters in Farnham town centre will go to the polls on April 18 after the resignation of a borough councillor triggered a by-election.

Heather McClean was elected to represent Castle Ward as a Farnham Residents councillor in May 2023.

But she resigned after attending just two of the eight council meetings she was required to attend since then.

Farnham Residents’ new group leader George Murray said Cllr McClean resigned “for purely personal reasons”.

He added: “Late last year she took on a new job in London and with the commuting and extra pressure she felt she could not give the role as a councillor the time required.”

The by-election will be contested by current town mayor Alan Earwaker (Farnham Residents), John Gaskell (Labour), Theresa Meredith-Harty (Lib Dems) and Aly Fitch (Conservative).

It will offer a tantalising glimpse at voter intentions before the general election, anticipated in the autumn.

The deadline for voter registration is April 2 and April 3 for postal votes. See https://tinyurl.com/castlebyelection