Sedgefield Town Council has appointed Councillor Ian Sutherland as mayor.
Coun Sutherland is a marine electronics engineer with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
He and his wife, Sheila, who becomes mayoress, are keen gardeners. Coun Sutherland has a particular passion for Japanese-style gardening.
They have won the Civic Trust Doris Etherington Cup for best front garden in the town's conservation area five times.
Both are members of the Sedgefield in Bloom Committee, and Mrs Sutherland is vice-chairwoman of the local history society.
They have a son, Jim, who is an instructor at Hendon Police College, and a daughter Kirstie, who works on drug addiction at a Leeds prison.
Coun Sutherland, who is interested in youth development and has been a Venture Scout Leader, intends to raise money during his term as mayor for young people and the Scout movement.
Mrs Sutherland is a medical photographer at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
Councillor Vaughan Lonie will be deputy mayor.
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