A FORMER hotel director and human resources manager with EuroDisney has been selected as the mayor-elect of Richmond.

Councillor Stuart Parsons, who is deputy mayor of the Swaledale market town, takes over the chains of office from Councillor Tom Burrows in May.

After returning to the UK from France in 1998, Mr Parsons was elected to the town council in 1999, chairing the planning committee the following year.

An active member of Richmond Town Centre Forum and the town's operatic society, Mr Parsons also serves on the committee of Richmond Festival and the Richmond Live.

He is an accounts manager with Darlington's Capita Business Services