Campaigners are celebrating the formation of a new parish council.

Batchworth Parish Council, that will cover Rickmansworth and Moor Park and Eastbury, was approved on September 12 after two years of lobbying by 4Wards Community Council Campaign.

At a meeting at Three Rivers District Council, councillors approved the parish council following a referendum in June, where residents voted in favour of its creation.

The council will have four councillors per ward and elections will be held in May 2017.

Miles Hosking, chairman of the 4Wards Community Council Campaign commented: “Whilst we would have liked to have seen a parish council being created for all the unparished wards in Three Rivers, we are nonetheless delighted that Rickmansworth, Moor Park and Eastbury will at last be given the same level of democratic representation as the rest of the Three Rivers District.

"We felt that these areas were under represented and strongly believed we were missing out the advantages of having a parish council.

"Parish councils help with funding - look at Croxley Green and Croxfest. In Rickmansworth and surrounding areas it's always such a scramble trying to get money together.

"They're also responsive to residents' needs - they allow residents to have a greater say in what happens in their homes."