HEAR YE, hear ye – a town crier is wanted to sing the praises of Portland.

A Portland Town Council working group has paved the way for a shouting match for the prestigious post.

The best candidate must have, showmanship, charisma, reliability, an interest in the history of Portland, the ability to pen some cries Portland residency and a ... loud voice!

A working group of councillors has come up with the idea but it has to be backed by the full meeting of Portland Town Council on January 20.

The councillors in the working group are Richard Denton-White, David Thurston, Jenny Collinge and Sylvia Bradley.

Coun Denton-White said: “A town crier would be a very positive way to promote the uniqueness of Portland and its history.

“It’s not going to cost the council tax payer that much money.

“The cost to the Island would be peanuts and would promote Portland Town Council as doing something for the community.”

The cost is likely to be £300 to advertise the post, about £500 per year honorarium for the crier and £250 for the regalia, although this would be built up over a number of years.

Dorchester town crier Alistair Chisholm will be acting as a consultant, according to Coun Denton-White.

Coun Denton-White said that if the full council backed the scheme, the post would be advertised in March.

A shortlist of candidates would be drawn up for a competition to be held in June or July.

Mr Denton-White added: “The venue would be somewhere like Portland Castle, for example.

“Each candidate would give a 50 to 125-word cry.

“There would be a judging panel and the public would be involved in some way.

He added: “Ideally, the winning candidate would be someone born and bred on the island.”