Falmouth Town have bolstered their squad ahead of the new South West Peninsula League season with three signings.

Centre-back Ben Oliver and forward Luke Barner have arrived at Bickland Park on a permanent basis, while goalkeeper Steve Parker-Billinge has joined as cover for the start of the season.

Former Penryn Athletic captain Oliver has signed for Town following a two-year absence from senior football for personal reasons.

Oliver left Penryn in the summer of 2017, the same time as when fellow Athletic team-mates Luke Brabyn, David Broglino, David Blizzard, Ryan Martt and Ollie Moody swapped Kernick for Bickland.

Manager Andrew Westgarth said: “I’ve been speaking to him quite a bit throughout the time he’s been off so timing wise it was perfect and he’ll be a great addition to the squad.

"He’s a local lad at a good age and with good experience, at Penryn I believe he was captain, so he’s the right sort of character and I can’t wait to get him involved.”

Barner signed for Falmouth after moving down to the area from Devon, where he was previously the captain of the University of Exeter side that finished 13th in SWPL Division 1 Wast last season.

“He can play anywhere across the front four," Westgarth said. "He’s a great age, early 20s, and having that versatility is really good for a manager and hopefully he can bring a bit of quality into our team as well."

Former Porthleven and Penzance goalkeeper Parker-Billinge has agreed to join Falmouth as cover for Ryan Barnes, who is away on holiday during August.

Parker-Billinge had retired from football at the end of last season, but Westgarth persuaded him to put his retirement on hold to fill in for Barnes.

“It’s a little bit frustrating but with schoolteachers the nature of the beast is they can only go on holiday in the summer holidays," Westgarth said, "but Steve will be a fantastic addition to us.

"He had announced his retirement from football but he’s doing us a favour.”

Westgarth is not ruling out further additions, but is more concerned about keeping who he has already got at the club, with centre-back James Ward's move to Truro City the only outgoing transfer from Bickland so far this summer.

“I would say our success this year is being able to keep hold of everybody because sometimes you can be a victim of your own success," he said. "Obviously we’ve done so well in the last couple of years so it's only natural that teams are going to come in and try and headhunt us."

Falmouth host Peterborough United under-18s in their first pre-season friendly of the summer on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).