A COUNCIL chairman and clerk have quit at what went on to become a bad-tempered meeting.

Kingswear Parish Council chairman Jonathan Hawkins announced his shock resignation before a packed meeting on Monday night.

At the same time, parish clerk Emma Illingworth also said she would be standing down.

Cllr Hawkins, who has been a Kingswear parish councillor for the past 16 years, said afterwards: 'It is time to move on.

'There are certain councillors I cannot and do not wish to work with.

'I was hoping there would have been a parish council election in May and I tried to get as many representatives as possible in the community to stand. But that didn't happen.

For more on this story, see this week's Dartmouth Chronicle