The new district opposition leader has been announced following the dramatic departure of Mike Eddy.

He is former town mayor and Border Force trade unionist Kevin Mills.

Dover District Council's Labour group today announced Cllr Mills' new appointment.

Cllr Mills, ward member for St Radigund's in Dover, was town mayor from 1993 to 1995.

He is also branch secretary of the Border Force officers' trade union PCS (Public and Commercial Services).

Cllr Mills said: "I want to ensure that in May this district elects a Labour-controlled council.

"I cannot accept the controlling Conservative group's view that austerity has ended.

" We see more families depending on food banks, an increase in child poverty, more and more people reliant on a minimum wage rather than a living wage.

"This is often coupled with the stress and uncertainty of zero hours contracts.

"We have witnessed austerity used as the excuse to drive down wages for nurses, the police and numerous public sector workers."

Cllr Mills said that more social and council housing was needed in the district, to stop young people having to leave the towns and villages they grew up in.

He added that initiatives needed to be devised to reduced the number of empty and run down shops, such as in Dover's town centre precinct.

He added that the character, heritage and culture of Deal and Sandwich need to be protected as well as its small and medium sized shops.

Cllr Mills added that better rural public transport was needed and the government had to address the specific issues impacting on the district as a result of Brexit.

Cllr Eddy had shocked the Labour membership at Dover District Council by announcing without warning, on November 2, that he had left the party to join the Greens.

He had complained of "nastiness" within the party and "bullying emails."

He had been group leader for 10 years.

Cllr Eddy later announced that he would form a progressive alliance with Cllr Peter Walker, who marched out of Labour in a separate dispute with the party.

Dover District Council in September announced a scheme to re-used empty shops and improve those in poor condition.

This involved grants of up to £10,000 per property for all three of the district's town centres.

Dover's Biggin Street and Cannon Street precinct, is particularly blighted by a high proportion of empty shops.

There were a total 13 by the end of 2017/18.