NEWLY re-appointed Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith hopes to carry on where he left off in 2008.

After 22 years as a Labour councillor for the ward, he was voted out and replaced by For Darwen Party councillor Andrew Graham.

But last Thursday, Labour colleague Dave Hollings stood down from his Sunnyhurst post, and Mr Smith took his place by polling 1,296 votes – almost double the candidate in second place.

He said: “I’m dealing with about 40 queries at the moment from people I picked up during canvassing.

"Even though I stopped being a borough councillor and became a town councillor last year, people never stopped coming to me with borough issues.

“The current administration have let a lot of the basics go, such as cleansing and maintainence, and I aim to give these things the attention they deserve.”

Mr Smith is looking for a new job now that his role of office manager for Janet Anderson is redundant.

Mrs Anderson was voted out after 18 years.