A new councillor was co-opted on to Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council at its meeting on Monday evening in Liphook Millennium Centre.

The co-option of Sally Cameron, the chairman of Liphook Carnival Committee, means the council is now back up to full strength.

Council clerk Peter Stanley said: “We now have 12 councillors again, a full quota.

“Cllr Cameron is now a councillor until the local elections in May, when all the council seats are up for election.”

Along with councillors agreeing Mrs Cameron’s nomination, one of the main agenda items at the meeting was appointing a specialist contractor to do work on the River Wey Aqueduct (pictured in 2018 by Simon Burchell).

Mr Stanley said: “The meeting heard the results of a specialist survey that outlined that work removing vegetation from the aqueduct was needed to prevent it causing any damage in the future.

“The aqueduct is a listed scheduled ancient monument and any work done on it has to be done very carefully.

“In the light of that, the council has agreed a specialist contractor is needed for the work to avoid damaging the brick and stone work of the aqueduct.”

Specialist firms will now be contacted and asked to give a price for the work.

The aqueduct in Radford Park dates back to the 16th century and once channelled water from water meadows on one side of the River Wey to water meadows on the other bank.

In the 1970s it was in urgent need of repair and thanks to grants the necessary work was completed by the Bramshott and Liphook Restoration Society.

The restoration work on the aqueduct also paved the way for the founding of the River Wey Trust.