VOTERS go to the polls on Thursday in a by-election triggered by the resignation of a newly-elected Labour councillor after she learned she was ineligible to stand.

Leanne Kennedy, who was voted in for the Dawdon ward of Durham County Council on May 4, was subsequently told she was prohibited from standing for office, because she was employed at a council-run school (as a year manager).

The Seaham town councillor will be standing again after signing a declaration that she is now eligible to hold office on the county council.

Bobby Arthur, of the Seaham Community Party, who came a close second in the May 4 elections, will also be standing again.

On May 4, Cllr Kennedy was elected to the Dawdon ward with 812 votes, along with fellow Labour member Kevin Shaw, who got 886 votes.

Mr Arthur polled 710 votes.

Cllr Kennedy, of Seaham, said in a statement last month that she had been wrongly advised that she could maintain her appointment as a employee of the local authority.

The council said at the time it was believed to have been “innocent mistake”.