FIVE new deputy lieutenants have been appointed to assist and support Somerset Lord Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq.

They are Rev Preb Narinder Tegally, Caroline Boddington and, Ali Vowles, all from Bath, David Brown, from Chewton Mendip, and Richard Swallow, from North Cheriton.

Mr Saddiq said: “We are delighted to welcome these five, who bring wide and varied experience to the Lieutenancy in Somerset.

“They will do a great deal to encourage, support and celebrate the lives and achievements of people and voluntary organisations in our county, and that is what the Lieutenancy is about.”

Rev Tegally was a registered nurse working in palliative care and mental health before her ordination in the Anglican Church,

Ms Boddington was born in Herefordshire and settled outside Bath in 2018, having travelled via Honduras, Oxford, Manchester, London, and Derbyshire working in the commercial and faith sectors.

Ms Vowles spent most of her working life as a presenter and reporter for BBC television and radio, mainly based in Bath, but grew up on a small dairy farm in Gloucestershire.

Mr Brown, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, is a business representative on the main board of the West of England Combined Authority, Local Enterprise Partnership, and chairman of governors at Wells Cathedral School.

Solicitor Mr Swallow has been at the same leading City law firm since 1991 and specialises in disputes and investigations, and is also involved with the social mobility charity upReach, acting as a mentor to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.