Here's a New Year's message from North Petherton Mayor Cllr Alan Bradford:

Perhaps now, more than any other year, we should be looking forward and not dwelling overlong on the year just gone. 2020 was not what any of us expected or hoped for, but there are a few positives that we can take from it, before we move on to a better 2021.

Living and working in the area represented by North Petherton Town Council, I was struck many times by how local people worked together to help each other through the difficult times we all faced.

I believe that the Town Council played its part to maintain local services and to step in when Sedgemoor and Somerset County councils were having to cut back, so that life in lockdown was not as bad as it might have been, and I would like to thank my fellow councillors for all that they have done to make this possible. But before leaving the old year behind, I must also express my gratitude to our health workers and other front line staff, who have worked tirelessly on our behalf and who, unfortunately, must continue to do so for some while to come.

Let us hope that the New Year will be better, not just than last year, but than many previous years, as we build on the community spirit that has now come to the fore. I will certainly do my best to ensure that the Town Council plays its part to the full.

I look forward to meeting people on the streets and in the countryside again and helping them to deal with their problems and issues.

I also hope to meet as a Council again face to face and not on a computer screen. I call upon our county and district councils and other public agencies, when we can be together again, to work together so that our community and local businesses really can bounce back.

Let us all hope and work for a truly Happy New Year.