THE Basingstoke Bison have beefed up their defence even more with the signing of top British blue liner Lewis Turner.

The 23-year-old is the fourth new face to join the Herd this summer and the second from local rivals the Bracknell Bees.

The Woking-born hard hitting defenceman started his junior career in Guildford, before moving down the road to join Bracknell.

He made his Bees debut in the English Premier League when still a teenager, in season 2011/12.

The following season he suited up for his first full campaign in Bracknell and also played for the Great Britain under-20 team in the World Championships.

Since then he has played another three seasons at the Hive, taking his number of appearances past 200 and was rated as the club’s top British defenceman.

Last term he played 42 games picking up nine assists and also took 70 minutes in penalties.

His addition takes the Bison D core up to six players along with Kurt Reynolds, Declan Balmer, Joe Baird, Stuart Mogg and Miroslav Vantroba, which will give the Herd the best defensive unit in the EPL.

Bison head coach Doug Sheppard is delighted to have added Turner to his roster and said: “He caught my eye when he played against us. His style makes him a great fit and he is a young player who skates well and has good physicality.

“Having 6 experienced defencemen will give us a lot of depth in this department.”

New signing Turner said: “I enjoy the physical side of the game and stopping players scoring. After a number of years in Bracknell I felt it was time for a change and I really feel the Bison is a team I would like to be part of. Looking at the team Doug has put together, I feel we will be challenging for silverware.”

The addition of Turner means the Herd is nearly complete, but they still need to sign a back-up netminder and are also set to add a couple more forwards ahead of the start of the campaign in September.