COUNCILLOR Robert Heseltine who currently faces six charges of false accounting has lost his Craven District Council seat in this year's local elections.

Standing on an Independent platform, Coun Heseltine lost out by 30 votes to newcomer Christopher Knowles-Fitton, the Conservative candidate, in the race for the Bolton Abbey ward.

Coun Heseltine, who is also a member of North Yorkshire County Council, told the Herald: "It has been a privilege to represent the people of Wharfedale for a considerable number of years.

"I wish my successor all the luck in the world and to continue the work that has started.

"These things happen in politics. Yesterday's election was a mountain we just could not scale on the day."

Coun Heseltine was first elected to the council in 1976 and for the first seven years stood as an Independent for Skipton East. Following a year's sabbatical, he has represented Bolton Abbey ever since.

He added the impending court case must have had some impact on the electors' choice.

"No doubt it would have some effect but that I am not in a position to judge. I had the warmest of receptions on the doorstep. Several dozens of my supporters appeared to be on holiday but that is fate.

"There were a number of circumstances the greater of which was the ability on this occasion of William Haigh to get the core Conservative vote out on the day."

Serving as a Craven District Councillor took up only a small percentage of Mr Heseltine's time and he told the Herald he would still be very active in public life with his duties on North Yorkshire County Council and as a member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Overall the Conservatives retained their majority on the council with a total of 18 seats. The Independents gained one seat, taking their total to 12, while the Liberal Democrats lost a seat and now have four.

No Labour candidates entered the elections for any ward this year, and therefore still have no representative on the council.

One hotly contested seat was in the Cowling ward - which the final count revealed was won by just a single vote.

Sitting councillor Janet Ackroyd who had been on the district for just one year lost the ward to chairman of Cowling Parish Council John Alderson. The final count stood at 254 votes to 255 with one spoilt ballot paper.

Mr Alderson, an Independent, said: "I never thought it would be as close as that."

He added that his aim would be to try and keep politics out of village issues and tackle them head on. "We want a bit more excitement in the village, we do not want to be ignored," he said.

His primary concern were the plans to hopefully build a new village hall.

The highest majority recorded in the election was that of Coun David Ireton, who held on to his Ingleborough ward seat with a majority of 653.

Only weeks before the election, Coun Ireton defected from the Conservatives, choosing to stand on an Independent platform instead.

His Conservative rival Nicholas Bradley polled just 115 votes, compared to Mr Ireton's tally of 768.

In South Craven, sitting Sutton councillor Ken Hart, an Independent, won his seat with 472 votes compared to the 258 accumulated by his Conservative opponent Margaret Waterhouse.

Bentham's long-standing councillor John Pilkington also retained his seat for the Liberal Democrats keeping Conservative candidate Gerald Titterington at bay by 513 votes to 216.

Sitting Settle councillor David Heather also retained a further Liberal Democrat seat with 146 vote majority over Conservative opponent Simon Rushton.

Frances Burrows was another Independent who fought off stiff competition from two other candidates to take the Skipton East ward. It had previously been in the hands of the Liberal Democrats.

Over recent years Mrs Burrows has been instrumental in setting up the Greatwood and Horse Close community association and the innovative estate agreement.

Joan Ibbotson's resignation from the council left the way open for two unknown candidates to fight for the Aire Valley seat.

Pat Fairbank, Conservative, emerged victorious with 434 votes to Ron Beale's 359.

Mrs Fairbank said: "It was a fair fight between me and my opponent."

She added that one of her main interests would be in securing bus and rail concessions for the elderly in the area.

Colin Iveson, Craven District Council's returning officer, told the Herald the turnout in the election followed the trend set last year and described it as "dismal".

The worst turnout was in Skipton East ward with only 20.3 per cent of the electorate bothering to vote. Sutton's figure was also in the twenties with a 28.1 per cent turnout.

The highest turnouts were recorded in the Bolton Abbey ward with 54.3 per cent of people voting and at Grassington where 48.6 per cent of the electorate voted.

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