A NEWLY-elected member of BCP Council has vowed to "restore some decency, honesty and integrity" to the authority.

Andy Martin was elected as councillor of Highcliffe and Walkford in a by-election this week.

Standing as a Christchurch Independent, Cllr Martin won in a landslide victory with 1,778 votes.

The Liberal Democrat candidate, Pete Brown, recorded 571 votes, with Conservative candidate Christopher Van Hagen getting 358 and Labour's David Stokes getting 163 votes.

Cllr Martin, the former editor of the Bournemouth Daily Echo, said: "I am absolutely delighted to have been elected by so many of my fellow residents to represent Highcliffe and Walkford on BCP Council.

"In my campaign I promised to stand up for our community on every issue and at every turn and be a loud and strong voice. That is what I will do, both at BCP and on our parish council on which I have served for the past three and a half years.

"I am deeply grateful for the trust our residents have overwhelmingly placed in me and I will not let them down.

"They are very angry with the way BCP Council has been run by the current Tory administration and they want change.

"Working with my six Christchurch Independent colleagues we will do our best to bring BCP back from the financial brink and help restore some decency, honesty and integrity to the politics of the council."

The by-election was sadly triggered by the death of long-standing local councillor, Nick Geary, who passed away in July.

Cllr Geary was a member of the Christchurch Independents and a former borough mayor.