He already oversees the spiritual wellbeing of many Helston residents and now Methodist minister Rev Danny Reed is extending his reach to the general welfare of the whole town.

Rev Danny has been co-opted onto Helston Town Council to represent the town's north ward, following the resignation of Jonathan Radford-Gaby at the end of last year.

It seems a natural progression for the former deputy boy of Helston School, who was born in Breage but moved away to pursue his calling, before returning five years ago to be responsible for the Central Methodist Church Helston in Coinagehall Street and the Lizard and Mounts May Methodist Circuit as a whole.

Explaining his decision to stand for the council, Rev Danny said: "I've always felt the town councillors have an important role in this town. I felt one way I could offer some of my time to the town would be by serving the town council. I believe the town council does a good job in our town and I was wanting to be part of that success.

"People are always quite quick to complain about things that are not done to their liking. I think it's important we try to do what we can for as many people as we can, whether that's in benevolence, enabling the town to continue to flourish, supporting businesses and local schools, or the huge amount of stuff that goes on in the town through community groups, or people's hard work in supporting the elderly.

"I think it's important the town council is able to support all people."

In May last year Rev Danny was invited to be chaplain to new mayor Gillian Geer, which has seen him attending the monthly full council meetings to say prayers beforehand and then staying on to listen to proceedings. This was the main catalyst in him standing for co-option, with Rev Danny admitting: "You're not allowed to speak [outside of public question time] and there were things I wanted to say."

The appointment comes shortly after Rev Danny was invited to stay on as minister in charge of the Lizard and Mounts Bay Methodist Circuit for another five years.

He is no stranger to sitting on public bodies and is already deputy chair of the Methodist Church in Cornwall.

Rev Danny, who lives in the town with his wife Sarah and their two sons, will only have four months in his new role before all town, parish and county councillors in Cornwall will have to stand for re-election in May. Currently, however, he is minded to add his name to the ballot paper, saying: "I think I've got the energy and enthusiasm, and quite possibly I would [stand again] at the moment."

Writing on its Facebook page, the town council said it was "delighted" to announce the arrival of Rev Danny, adding: "Councillors and staff look forward to working with him in the future."