DORCHESTER Town have announced the permanent signing of central-defender Nathan Walker.

Walker, who has been on loan with the Magpies from Weymouth over the second period of the season, has penned a 12-month deal with the club to the delight of manager Phil Simkin.

The Dorchester boss told Echosport: “It was very important and a massive signing for us, we will build the team around him quite frankly and things are shaping up quite well.

“He was the youngest captain in the Wessex League with me at Hamworthy United at just 19 and we know each other very well, I know what I’m going to get from him and he knows what he is going to get from me.

“We have always been a good partnership and I’m delighted that he is back home where he belongs.”

As a defender, the Magpies’ boss believes there will be no one better than Walker in the Southern Premier League next year.

He added: “Having spent the last two and a half months here, he realises that this is where he needs to be, he played his best football here before, and he will play it here again.

“He will probably be the top centre-half in the league, I can’t see anybody better than him and we are delighted to have him back on board.”

Walker becomes the second player to sign for Dorchester from Weymouth in the last two weeks with the arrival of striker Ben Joyce to the Avenue last week.