A BY-ELECTION will be held on Thursday to replace jailed Wantage councillor John Morgan.

Four candidates are standing for each of Morgan’s two seats, on Wantage Town Council and Vale of White Horse District Council, for Wantage Charlton ward.

Green Party candidate Kevin Harris, Conservative Julia Reynolds, Liberal Democrat Jim Sibbald and Labour’s Nathan Sparkes will contest the district council seat.

Mr Harris, Mr Sibbald and Mr Sparkes will also stand for the town council position, with the substitution of Geoffrey Stokell for the Tories.

Polling stations, The Beacon – formerly Wantage Civic Hall – the Scout Hut on Springfield Road and Wantage Cricket Club on Charlton Village Road, will be open from 7am to 10pm.

The count will be conducted at the Beacon.

Morgan, 75, was jailed for five years in January for stealing £154,000 from pensioner Beryl Gittens.

Meanwhile, Summertown residents will have a by-election to vote in as well as the main city council election next month after one of the area’s councillors resigned.

Lib Dem Stuart McCready said he had only intended to serve on Oxford City Council for four years when he was first elected in 2008 but said there was no one available to replace him when he was up for election two years ago.

Elections to the city council are being held on May 22, with Summertown’s other Lib Dem councillor Jean Fooks up for re-election at the end of her four year term.

Mr McCready, 70, of Southdale Road, said he timed his resignation so the byelection would be held on the same day.

He said: “I wanted to make way for an election to be held on May 22.

“I have done this for six years and I have found it very satisfying but that is the limit of what I have wanted to do.

“My original plan was to go for four years but it just didn’t happen that there was someone ready to come forward.”

Mr McCready said his replacement as Lib Dem candidate would be Andrew Gant.