Voters in a part of central Swindon will get to vote in their fourth election this year.

After elections for Swindon Borough Council and the Swindon and Wiltshire Police & Crime Commissioner in May, and then the general election in July, residents in Rodbourne Cheney will be able to elect a new member for their borough council ward.

The by-election, which will be held on Thursday, October 17, has been triggered by the resignation of Councillor Will Stone.

Mr Stone, of course, was elected as the MP for Swindon North in July.

While it’s not unknown and is perfectly legal to be both an MP and a borough councillor, it’s not usually done.

It is understood that Mr Stone remained in place as a councillor for some weeks in order to give both voters and council election staff a bit of a break over summer after two significant elections in quick succession.

There are five candidates to replace Mr Stone: Meural Cardoso of the Labour Party, Rod Hebden of the Green Party, Sudha Sri Nukana for the Conservative Party, Independent candidates Alex Petrache and Ciaran Skinner of the Liberal Democrats.

The deadline to register to vote is midnight on Tuesday, October 1. Do so at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.