Leading Dover town councillor David Hannent has announced that he is quitting the Dover Alliance which he helped to set up and of which he has been chairman.

Businessman Alan Shirley is to become the new chairman of the Alliance which was set up in 2003 as the Dover Independent Alliance by a group of independent candidates who stood for Dover town council. Some of them were elected in 2004.

In 2006 it was re-launched as the Dover Alliance, headed by Cllr Hannent who said it allowed independent councillors and potential candidates, to enjoy improved organisational support.

"The Dover Alliance will exist as a more structured grouping than the old alliance," he said. "It will offer better support to people who work for the town, without referring to politics."

There are currently four Alliance members serving as town councillors, including Cllr Hannent. But now, the Alliance has announced that he will be leaving before the elections in May and has already stood down as chairman.

Full story in this week's Dover Mercury.

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