A former mayor and committee chairman has stepped down from Helston Town Council less than six months before the next election.

Jonathan Radford-Gaby said his other commitments had been weighing heavily "for some considerable time" and had forced him to reconsider how to balance his time.

Mr Radford-Gaby had already stepped down from his role as chairman of the amenities committee last month and his resignation from the town council as a whole came into effect at the end of the last Thursday's meeting of the full council.

In a statement he said: "For some considerable time now I have worried that my increasing business commitments both here in Helston and in recent weeks, now also in Truro, has meant that time available to attend to my council commitments has become less and less.

"In October I reluctantly stood down as chairman of the amenities committee as I had a sense of letting the side down in the need to offer apologies for absence for various meetings and commitments, hopefully making way for a replacement who is able to devote themselves more fully to this important role."

Mr Radford-Gaby, who was mayor between 2012 and 2014, works as a building surveyor and is also involved in his wife's website development and bookings company Negys.

"Time has become a very precious commodity to me of late, finding that I have so little of it to spread around," he added.

"It is therefore with great sadness that I announce my resignation from the Helston Town Council.

"It has been an honour and, mostly, a genuine pleasure to serve the people of Helston as a councillor, notably including one year as deputy mayor and a further two as mayor. It is, however, unfair to continue to occupy a seat on the council when I know in my heart that I cannot give my best to role.

"I have therefore decided to vacate my seat in the hope it can be filled by someone with a similar passion for this fine old town, but unlike me with the time to devote to the role of town councillor that it necessarily deserves."

With his resignation coming less than six months before the electorate will go to the polls, to re-elect all town, parish and Cornwall Council positions next May, Helston councillors had the option not to fill the vacancy in the meantime.

However, following a debate between members the majority were in favour of co-opting someone to fill the position.

Councillor Tim Grattan-Kane said he was already aware of some interest and pointed out: "I think it's an excellent opportunity for us to fill the void and gives people the opportunity to see if they would like to be a councillor."

Applications must be made in writing by noon on Friday, December 9 to town clerk Chris Dawson at The Guildhall, Helston, TR13 8ST.

Applicants must be over 18 years of age and have lived or worked within Helston, or a three mile radius of the parish boundary, for the last 12 months.