A FAMILIAR face will be missing from future meetings of Ludlow Town Council.

Long serving councillor and former Mayor of the Town Jim Smithers has left the council.

Mr Smithers was defeated in a contested ward four years ago but quickly returned to the Town Council as a co-opted member.

However, he was unsuccessful in a contest again in May and has left the council.

Mr Smithers was the Mayor of Ludlow when the town awarded the freedom of the town to the Royal Welch Regiment in a spectacular ceremony that involved the regiment parading through the town.

He had close links to the military and was involved in a number of initiatives in which the town marked its respect for the servicemen and women past and present from the area.

Mr Smithers supported a number of charitable organisations and is a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.

The organisation aids members, their families, dependents of former members and other charitable organisations.

He was involved in the Ludlow in Bloom group in the early stages and served as the Town Council representative on the Ludlow Chamber of Commerce.

James Durnall is one of the new members to join Ludlow Town Council through the co-option process.

He was an unsuccessful Conservative candidate for a Ludlow ward in the elections to Shropshire Council in May.

Co-opted councillors have the same status and voting entitlement as every other member of the Council.