WEST Craven councillor Ken Hartley has been elected mayor of Pendle Borough Council.

And, in a double for the ward, his friend, fellow West Craven councillor, Jayne Mills, recently elected to the borough council and onto Barnoldswick Town Council,will be mayoress.

Cllr Hartley was born in the ward he now serves and started out as an apprentice with Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick. He went on to work for the company in Europe and in North America, and enjoyed a second career looking after executive jet aircraft in Montreal and Toronto.

In his acceptance speech at Nelson Town Hall, Cllr Hartley said he would be an ambassador for Pendle both inside the borough and further afield.

He also paid tribute to retiring mayor and mayoress James Keith Starkie and his wife, Janet Starkie, commenting that: “They have served the borough with energy, distinction and considerable success.”

New mayoress, Cllr Mills was elected to Pendle Council representing the Coates ward in Barnoldswick and also onto Barnoldswick Town Council at the May local elections.

She said she looked forward to the coming year and would with the mayor be visiting Pendle’s schools, businesses and organisations.

Cllr Hartley said:“Jayne and I want to support those people who often put their own lives at risk to come to the aid of those in desperate need.

“We have looked both east and west and our chosen charities are the local Air Ambulance Services, North West and Yorkshire; our area’s fell and cave rescue organisations in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale ,and Wharfedale, and The Royal National Lifeboat Institution - Fleetwood and Whitby.”

Cllr Mills added: “We’ll also be supporting smaller organisations which exist without regular government funding and rely on volunteers to make a difference, and we’ll be choosing organisations which depend on charity support to enable them to do some incredible work.”

Councillor Neil Butterworth was elected deputy mayor for the coming year.