A COLWALL magistrate has been appointed to the job of counting every man, woman and child in three counties for next year's Census.

Alun Llewellyn will be in charge of counting the population in Herefordshire, Malvern Hills, Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean, Cheltenham and Gloucester and is looking for a team of about 780 people to help him.

The first posts to be filled will be those of 26 Census District Managers, whose job will be to ensure that nobody is missed from the count.

Mr Llewellyn will be drawing upon experience gained from three previous counts in 1966, 1971 and 1981 to help him in this daunting task.

But he said he is looking forward to the challenge.

"Mine is one of the largest rural areas in the country, with a population of over 600,000," he said.

"The information on the forms helps local authorities plan all manner of things, such as how many schools are needed and where hospitals should be built," he added.

The Census day is on April 29, 2001 and it is anticipated that the number of people counted in England and Wales will be about 53 million.