THE new Ribble Valley councillor for Waddington is villager Tory Roger Harold Chaplin after a closely fought by-election.

He received 220 votes in yesterday's by-election, beating Liberal Democrat William Le Breton, who received 194 votes.

The turnout was 39.7 per cent, which Ribble Valley Council chief legal officer Paul Timson described as good.

The Ribble Valley Council is currently divided among 18 Tories, 16 Lib Dems, three independents and one Labour member.