UPTON’S new mayor is Councillor Paul Thomas, who has served as deputy mayor for the past two years.

Coun Thomas was elected unopposed on Tuesday evening, replacing Councilor Tim Perry, who has spent two years in the hot seat.

Coun Thomas, who was born and bred in Upton, said: “It is a great honour for me and it gives me great pleasure to accept this nomination. To follow in Tim’s footsteps will be an almost impossible task but I am looking forward to the challenge.”

Coun Perry said: “It has been an eventful couple of years, but it has been great fun and I have really enjoyed it.

“I think one of the frustrating things when you are leaving a role can be not seeing projects through to completion, but I am confident that in Upton we will see some of our projects, such as the skate park and flood bund, realised in the near future.”

Upton’s new deputy mayor is Councillor Simon Yates, who won a closed ballot against Councillor Andrea Morgan by a single vote.