THE new mayor and deputy mayor of a Flintshire town have officially been appointed.

Cllr Tim Maunders has become the new mayor of Mold for 2019/20, while Cllr Teresa Carberry has been named as the town’s new deputy mayor.

The outgoing Mayor, Cllr Karen Hodgkinson, handed over the mayoral chain to her successor in the traditional way.

After stepping down from her position as the town’s civic leader Cllr Hodgkinson described it as “the time of her life” before paying tribute to her colleagues.

She said: “Over the year we have managed to raise more than £12,500 for charitable causes which is a shock to me.

“Being the mayor of a town is not something many people get to do, so thank you to everyone, and it’s been quite the pleasure.”

Cllr Maunders, South African born and raised, succeeds Cllr Hodgkinson just days after the pair were among the brave people to take part in a

charitable abseil down County Hall in Mold

.

A beaming Cllr Maunders said: “Thank you to Karen (Hodgkinson) for teaching me so much over the last 12 months.”

And he joked: “You’ve had a cracking year, but I hope to do just that little bit more than you.”

Cllr Chris Bithell recognised the new mayor’s ‘fun’ attitude during the ceremony.

“He is certainly a doer, and not just a talker,” he said.

“We look forward to working with you as you’re someone who will roll their sleeves up and get stuck in, and I’m sure it will be fun too.”

Cllr Maunders named North East Wales Search and Rescue volunteers as his mayoral charity for the year after explaining that a presentation they conducted “knocked him off his feet”.

The North Eastern branch is one of six teams based in North Wales and is among the busiest in the UK for mountain rescues, after seeing a 200 per cent increase in reports over the past five years.