MINEHEAD litter campaigner Steven Heard has resigned from the town council after claims that he cleaned a metal stag sculpture at the Ellicombe roundabout without the correct permission.

Cllr Heard, who is profoundly deaf and disabled, has been a familiar sight in the past eight years collecting dog litter with a trailer attached to his mobility scooter and working voluntarily to tidy hedges, paths and grass verges.

The stag was donated to the town by Peter Marshall, of Chris’s Crackers salvage yard in Carhampton, and Cllr Heard claimed that he had his permission to clean it. But after complaints from the public, the town council wrote to Cllr Heard reminding him that he did not have official permission to do the work.

A statement on his behalf on social media said: “There is no ill-feeling between Cllr Heard and the Independent councillors he has worked with, but his mental health can no longer take the onslaught of drama that he is met with every day by members of the public who don’t like what he does.

“There have been several other instances where Steven’s voluntary work has come into conflict with his role on the council and the bureaucracy that surrounds permissions and insurance is something that he doesn’t wish to take part in. He simply wants to help and improve his community.”

Cllr Heard, 50, became Minehead’s first profoundly deaf councillor when he was co-opted on to the council in March 2019 after a secret ballot. He followed council meetings with the aid of an electronic interpreter.

In a statement announcing his resignation he said: “I have been helping to keep the town clean and tidy for eight years, but whatever I do I get told off.”