ALL of the major parties have said they will be fielding candidates in a Stroud District Council by-election for the Chalford ward seat.

The Conservatives and the Greens have announced their candidates with Labour and the Lib Dems making their selections in due course.

The seat was vacated due to the passing of Conservative councillor Liz Peters last month.

She represented Chalford for 15 years, most recently she was on the housing committee as well as the community services and licensing committee, and in the past had been chair of the housing management forum.

An announcement to confirm the polling day is expected within a fortnight.

The Green Party has announced semi-retired SGS lecturer Robin Lewis.

Robin joined the Greens in 2011 after becoming disillusioned with the Labour Party as he believed there was lack of focus on environmental issues.

He has lived in the Stroud area for 18 years and in Brimscombe since September 2015.

He said: “My first reason for running is to improve safety and ease of use for cyclists along the Golden Valley.

"As a cyclist who uses the A419 I have experience of the need to lessen the amount of cars using the road in order to ease pollution and congestion.

"I am also keen to work with the local community to further improve recycling and ensuring responsible house planning and developments."

Earlier this week the Conservatives announced its candidate as 33-year-old property manager Darren Loftus.

He said: "Liz Peters is a hard act to follow but I will do my best to fill her shoes and represent the people of Chalford ward.”

The Greens and the Conservatives are the only parties to announce candidates so far, but Labour and the Lib Dems have said they will be fielding a candidate but no one has been announced yet.