A TOWN has its own mayor for the first time after councillors created a new post.

Members of Shildon Town Council have voted that the position of chairman of the council should be changed to carry the title of mayor.

Councillors were told at a meeting on Monday that it would not cost anything to create the position of mayor, and members felt that a town of Shildon's size should have a mayor of its own.

The town's first Mayor, Councillor Garry Huntington, said that the idea of having a mayoral figurehead was something that members had been talking about for a long time.

He said: "The members felt that a town of our size should have a mayor instead of a chairman.

"For me it has been an honour to be chairman, and I am still the same person even though the members have voted to change that to mayor. And, of course, it is an honour to be Shildon's first mayor.''