MALMESBURY’S mayor Wayne Jones has been re-elected to serve another term in office, with Fran Vandelli chosen to become his deputy.

Wayne become mayor in 2016 and has overseen a number of successful initiatives during his time in office, including the signing of a friendship agreement with the town of Bad Hersfeld in Germany.

He said: “I’m honoured to have been re-elected as mayor of Malmesbury for a second term.

“It enables me to continue some of the reviews and work that we started last year. Obviously the election has brought around a change in councillors and I hope by being re-elected I am now in a position to provide a degree of continuity to the town council from my first year.

“I have a very able deputy mayor in Cllr Fran Vandelli who I am sure will add value to my role this year and between us I am sure we can make some positive impacts on our community.”

Wayne said there were two highlights that stood out for him during his first term in office.

“The first highlight was signing the friendship agreement with Bad Hersfeld.

“It was a fantastic week where I was able to represent the town, it was full on but very enjoyable.

“The second highlight was being able to present the civic awards a few weeks ago to some deserving residents of our town.

“They all provide a fantastic service however they are just the tip of the iceberg.

“There are many that we know nothing about and in this coming year, one of the things I’d like to do is raise the profile of our civic awards and make sure we are able to recognise and reward more of our community champions.”

Newly elected deputy mayor Cllr Vandelli was thrilled to be given the position.

She said: “I am overwhelmed and humbled by having been given the trust of the town council to represent them and to work hard on the town’s behalf.

“I wanted to become deputy mayor because it’s an opportunity to serve the town in a different way. It’s another way of seeing what I can do to serve the town in terms of representing causes, listening to people and moving and influencing new initiatives.

”I don’t see it as a political position, it’s all about service.”

The town council also met on Tuesday evening to appoint councillors to serve on its various committees for the civic year 2017/18, full details of which can be found on the council’s website, malmesbury.gov.uk