THREE Carleton parish councillors who have altogether given nearly nine decades of service to the village have stood down.

Residents Stuart Brown, Brian Summersgill and Dilys Kaye have served 36, 32 and 18 years respectively but decided to resign at the last election.

A lifelong Carleton resident, Mr Brown said he had always enjoyed his time on the council, even though it had sometimes been frustrating as the council could only recommend many decisions rather than make them.

Mr Summersgill, who is also Carleton born and bred, said he was sad to leave the council but had to go for health reasons.

He explained that he had got involved due to a desire to improve village life and felt satisfaction from seeing things like repaired potholes and new fencing which the parish council had made happen.

Mrs Kaye moved to Carleton in 1986 and joined the parish council shortly after. She said: "I had lost my husband and Carleton had been so good to me that I wanted to put something back."

Mrs Kaye said she hoped a "younger element" would join the council.

Coincidentally, all three formed the parish council's planning committee, which means three replacements now have to be found.

The new members will work under the guidance of parish clerk John Preston, who has held the post for 30 years.

Head of Craven District Council's democratic services Colin Iveson said he thought there was a good chance Mr Preston was Craven's longest serving clerk.

He added: "John is clearly a very committed and dedicated person to have stayed with the job so long.

"Clerks often find themselves under considerable pressure in what is mostly a fairly isolated position."