Biddulph Town Council has elected Cllr Sylvia Rushton as the new Mayor of Biddulph for 2021-2022.

Cllr Rushton, who was last year's Deputy Mayor, will take over from Cllr John Jones, who has served as Biddulph's Mayor for the past year.

Cllr Rushton was elected as mayor in a unanimous vote at the town council's annual meeting tonight (Tuesday).

Cllr Jim Garvey was elected as the new Deputy Mayor.

Nominating Cllr Rushton as mayor, Cllr Kevin Jackson said: "She has always been a stalwart and I have complete confidence that she will be a credit to herself, her family, and everyone in this town as mayor."

Cllr Rushton said: "Thank you to all the councillors for their support. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.

"I love people in Biddulph, and whatever I can do for them, I can assure you I will."

Cllr Rushton named Staffordshire sight loss association and the Biddulph Food Banks as her chosen charities for the coming year, and also revealed her plans to do a skydive to raise money for these causes.

Some of the money raised will also be saved for those who may be in need by the end of the year.

She explained: "When we have collected all the money over the year, and I hope we get quite a bit, some of the money will be put in a box and the money will go to people in need at the end of the year.

"If people need money, that's what we can use it for. I hope you can all support me. Thank you again for this honour, and my late husband would be as proud as a peacock if he was here."

Outgoing Mayor Cllr John Jones discussed his work during an unprecedented year for Biddulph and beyond.

He said: "It's been a great honour to serve as your mayor, and I know this year has been really hard for a lot of folk, and the restrictions meant we couldn't organise many social events at all.

"It has been a challenging year with many major projects, and in some ways I seem to have had all of the grief and none of the perks. However, the events I have attended have been an absolute pleasure, and hosting council meetings, while challenging, has also been a pleasure.

"Thanks to Sarah Haydon and our magnificent team for keeping us on the straight and narrow, and thank you to John Robinson for all he does for the town. Another big thank you goes to all of Biddulph's volunteers. Last but not least is my wife of over 40 years, Anne. She's my rock, and I am nothing without her support.

"My charity was CRY, and we raised over £1,200 by completing the zipwire challenge in aid of them. By my calculations we should now have a total of over £5,000. An enormous thank you to all who have been so generous in their sponsorship.

"It has been an absolute privilege and a pleasure, and my very best wishes go to my successor, Cllr Rushton."

Cllr Tony Hall thanked Cllr Jones for all of his work over the year, saying: "It has been an unprecedented year, not only because of the pandemic, and John has met these challenges head on and taken part in many community activities.

"Despite all our problems, Biddulph has gone forward under your leadership. Thank you and Anne for all your hard work over the past year."

And Cllr Kevin Jackson added: "Some of the meetings have been challenging, and if I have been part of that challenge then I am proud to be so.

"But no matter how we fall out, the friendship and camaraderie has been tremendous between councillors, and your fundraising has been tremendous over the past year."