A DEPUTY town crier - able to shout loudly and look good in white stockings - is needed by Otley Town Council.

An ability to chase beggars out of town and sell wives is no longer required, but a penchant for marching and the skill to ring a bell is a must.

The successful candidate, who can be a man or a woman, will work alongside current town bellman Paddy Steval and eventually take over.

Mr Steval, town bellman since 1994, said: "It's a great job for someone like me who's a bit shy and retiring.

"It's a lot of fun, you've just not got to take yourself too seriously."

Mr Steval says he has no intention of retiring for some years - even though he is in his seventies - but thought it was wise to have someone trained up and ready to take over when the time came.

"I was concerned that the process was put in place. A few years ago there was a space of about three or four years when Otley went without one and I wanted to prevent that from happening and make sure there is someone waiting in the wings."

Mr Steval, a member of the Loyal Company of Town Criers, says the job has changed a great deal over the years.

In Otley, the position of town crier is known as town bellman, which it shares with some other towns and cities including Manchester. There are records of a bellman in the town going back to the 1860s.

In the past, town criers have carried out weddings, tested ale, chased beggars out of town and cleared dogs and children from parish meetings. They would also have supervised the town market and the stocks.

"Historically, the bellman could have been an assistant to the constable, he would have been a beggar banger which would have meant him chasing the beggars out of town.

"In certain rural areas where they would have had hiring fairs for labourers and people would have wanted couples, the town crier would marry couples, because the landowners wouldn't have liked the thought of them living in sin."

Another task for the bellman would have been the selling of wives.

"That would have been in the days when they would have come with a dowry and pots and pans."

Mr Steval added: "When public houses used to brew their own ales one of the jobs for the bellman was to taste the ale, we've got Briscoe's Brewery in Otley and I have tested that a few times. When I go home and my wife says to me you've been drinking, I just say it's all part of the job."

These days, most Saturdays Mr Steval, resplendent in his Otley livery - of blues and silver - can be seen announcing the news in the Market Place.

"I find out things much the same as the newspaper, I keep my ear to the ground and people tell me things," he said.

But much like The Wharfedale Observer, he has to be careful what he reports.

"I can't be political and I can't be religious. I make wedding announcements and talk about people who have excelled in something. Another thing I can do is warn about the dangers of skating on the ice on the river," he said.

He writes his pieces of news down on paper before making his announcements.

"One of the funniest I did was a 25th wedding anniversary when they said they'd survived despite the relatives saying it would only last five minutes, that got a big cheer from the Market Place."

Mr Steval is also very much part of town events such as Otley Carnival, when he leads the procession, and the Victorian Fayre.

A good advert for any town, Ilkley has just followed suit and taken on its first ever town crier - Chris Richards.

"It's a good thing for the town. I do find a lot of tourists come up and speak to me and it's not just foreign tourists but people from this country who don't have their own bellman."

Mr Steval says the job can be done equally well by a woman or a man - all they need to have is a loud voice and an outgoing manner.

"There are formalities and protocol, but it's not a serious thing. It's fun and it does put a town or city on the map.

"When I first came to Otley I used to hear this phrase in the pubs - 'better known than the bellman'. I used to wonder what it meant, then I realised, no one is better known than the bellman."

An advertisement for the position of deputy town bellman was placed in the council magazine Otley Matters.

The advert asked for a man or woman "with the ability to shout loudly and look good in white stockings."

So far the council has had some interest and it will now be up to the council's personnel committee to look through the applications and carry out the interviews.

Les Cross, town clerk, said: "This isn't a clerical job, it's something a bit different. Whoever takes it on is going to have to have a feel for this sort of thing."

Meanwhile, Mr Steval is sure that Otley is the sort of place hiding many potential town criers.

"We have had an influx of people into Otley who want to get involved and what to keep traditions going," he said.

There is still time to apply for the position to Les Cross, Otley Town Council, Otley Civic Centre, Otley.