MARK Salter has decided to retire from football, bringing his illustrious Bridport career to an end.

Salter scored 40 goals for the Bees over the past two seasons and across his career has scored over 500 goals, seeing him feature for the likes of Southend United and Bath City.

The majority of his goals came for Frome Town, where he scored 292 across two spells.

Bees’ boss Rich Robson praised Salter for giving “great service”.

He told the Bridport News: “We spoke to him and he said it is about time he spent some time with his family and that is fair enough.

“Speaking to Paddy (Behan, former assistant manager) it sounds like he has wanted to step away for the past two or three seasons, and he has finally done it, which is fair enough to him. I think he has given great service to Bridport and he has still bagged over 10 last season.”

With Salter gone the Bees have signed Lewis Clarke to step into his shoes, and Robson is confident he will be able to fill the void.

Robson added: “Of course he (Salter) is going to be a big miss but I think Lewis (Clarke) has got it all about him to fill the shoes and especially if we keep him fit.

“I am delighted to have Lewis in, obviously Ryan (Dovell) knows him better than I do but I have seen him (play) before.

“Speaking to him, his attitude seems top notch, he seems like a good lad, calls a spade a spade and that is the sort of person we want around.”

The Bees have also signed Derek Wall, formerly of Weymouth, Joel Hewitt, from Dorchester Sports and striker Robinson Okumu.