A NATIONWIDE drive to combat loneliness by getting people to sit down for a chat together could be coming to South Devon – despite fears they might attract ‘creepy’ people.

So-called ‘chatty benches’ are springing up around the country, complete with plaques explaining that by sitting on one, people are open to having a chat with a stranger.

Now they could be coming to Teignbridge despite some councillors’ reservations.

Members of Teignbridge Council also discussed what colour the benches should be. Some places elsewhere in the country have them painted bright yellow.

The idea was put forward by Cllr Chris Clarance (Ind, Shaldon and Stokeinteignhead), who said creating a ‘chatty bench’ should be one of the options for local people wanting to buy memorial benches in the district.

He said councils elsewhere in the UK had taken the idea on board, and Teignbridge should do so too. His motion to the council said: ‘I for one would like to do this, by providing such a bench, on behalf of a deceased neighbour who back in October 2024 passed away aged 99.

‘She admitted to my wife Sally, who cared for her for over the last two years of her life, that before this she had been so lonely in life.’

He said it would be part of his ‘legacy’ as a councillor.

However, Cllr Jane Taylor (Ind, Kerswell-with-Coombe) said she couldn’t support the initiative because it would put ‘conditions’ on sitting down at a bench, in that people would have to chat to strangers if they sat there.

Cllr Andrew MacGregor (Ind, Bishopsteignton) said he also had reservations and Cllr Phil Bullivant (Con, Bradley) warned: ‘We should be very careful.’

‘Potentially we are signposting people who are vulnerable,’ he added. ‘Having a sign which says people are lonely and on their own is potentially a problem.

‘These benches need to be located in places where they can be adequately supervised. Be careful what you wish for.’

However, Cllr Suzanne Sanders (Lib Dem, Chudleigh) said the initiative was supported by mental health groups.

‘They wouldn’t exist if there was really a cause for concern,’ she said. ‘What a sorry world we live in where we can’t talk to each other in public freely without fear.

‘If this encourages people to be more open and more positive then I’m all for it.’

The motion to offer people the chance to buy a ‘chatty bench’ was passed.