Dartmouth town councillors have all signed up to a new code that has involved them revealing more personal and financial details about their lives than they have ever had to before.

The councillors have had to disclose details about their personal financial interests along with those of their wives, husbands or partners in a special register that is open to the public.

Eventually the details will be available on a website which can be accessed by anyone.

The details are already available at the Guildhall for anyone who wants to inspect them.

South Hams Council is planning to have them available on its own website – along with those of councillors on the other 60 parish and town councils across the district – some time in the new year.

The newer and more far-reaching code of conduct is being imposed on local authorities across the country under new local government rules. Under the code the councillors have had to reveal details of their own and their partner's employment, office, trade professions or vocations; details of securities or shareholdings and interests in companies or other bodies; details of land or property holdings or tenancies in the area of the council they represent; the name of any body, employer, firm or company which they own.

The council has also agreed to sign up to a part two register of other interests where councillors alone have to declare details of any other bodies they are a member of, which includes political parties, charities and public authorities.

The councillors were all warned that they had to sign up to the new code or cease to be a councillor.

Deputy town clerk Tracy Rowe confirmed all the councillors had now signed up to the code. She also said that, while the details were available for inspection in the shape of hard copies, the information was not yet on the town council's website because the council was waiting for the go- ahead from South Hams Council.

The district council has copies of the all the registers of councillors' interests from all the parish and town councils in South Hams.

A district council spokesman said that the 'new ethical governance arrangements' came into effect on July 1 this year when all councils, including town and parish councils, had to adopt a new code of members' conduct.

He said: 'The registers now require information about interests of partners or spouses to be revealed (where known), and for the registers to be displayed on the district council's website and those of the parish councils.

'We are working with our ICT department so that the information set out in the registers is included on the district council's website once the new internet site is up and running – which is due to go live in the new year.

In the meantime, the registers that have been received so far can be inspected, as with the previous registers, at the council's offices during normal working hours and copies should also be available for inspection from the town or parish clerks.'