DISABLED litter campaigner Steven Heard has become Minehead’s first profoundly deaf councillor and pledged to make the town a more environmentally friendly place.

Cllr Heard, 48, who is registered deaf and suffers from mobility problems, was co-opted as an independent town councillor on Tuesday in a secret ballot, beating fellow Minehead resident Craig Palmer.

The vacancy was caused by the resignation of former Minehead mayor Les Smith.

Cllr Heard is well known for his one-man mission against dog litter, patrolling the town with a trailer attached to his mobility scooter.

In 2017 he was given a district council acceptable behaviour contract for spraying anti-litter slogans on roads.

He regularly attends council meetings, following proceedings with the help of an electronic interpreter.

Cllr Heard told councillors he had been fighting for five years to improve Minehead.

He pledged to campaign for public recycling bins, litter and dog warden enforcement, and support for new community gardening projects.

He pressed for an improvement in disability and cycle-path networks, more local bus services and support for the Taunton rail link group.

Cllr Heard urged the council to make the town centre more user-friendly, with better seating, a free town centre car park and support for support small businesses which struggle out of season.

He planned to support West Somerset Council in improving health and safety awareness.

Cllr Heard told councillors: “I want to be the first-ever deaf member of Minehead Town Council to fight for equal opportunities for others in the same position and to increase awareness of the problems of people who are hard of hearing.”