The Budleigh Salterton community day yesterday (July, 21) gave residents in Greenhaven the chance to meet their local councillors and officers and discuss any issues.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) ran the event between 11am and 3pm and out of one hundred people who were invited, 40 turned up on the day.

Local resident, Natalie told the Journal: “It's a nice little event, I had a small problem with my house and the EDDC handymen were able to fix it for more. I hope they can run other events like this in the future.”

Another Budleigh resident said: “I have a small crack in my outside wall which I contacted EDDC about a couple of months, I came along today and my crack was surveyed, I don’t know whether anything will happen now, but I'll wait and see if it gets fixed.”

Local contractor, Ian Williams, which works with EDDC, was also on hand and said they carried out 10 repairs to various properties, from helping throw a washing machine into a skip to fixing a leaky tap and a broken toilet handle.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service also attended to give residents fire prevention advice.

This was the second event of its sort to be held, following what the council describe as 'very successful' community day in Sidmouth and EDDC hope to run more events like this in the future, in areas including Honiton, Colyton and Axminster.

Sophie Davis, housing business and customer improvement manager at East Devon District Council said: “Today allows residents here in Greenhaven to put a name to a face, they be frustrated trying to get hold of someone at EDDC on the phone, but this allows us to speak to people directly and get their thoughts on the issues affecting them.”

Councillor Dan Ledger EDDC’s portfolio holder for sustainable homes and communities, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to increase visibility with our East Devon residents and I am really looking forward to more events.

"It is especially great to get out into the community after the last two years we have had.”