A former council officer who has spent his life working in local government has become the new mayor of Cheshire East.

And a long serving Alsager councillor Rod Fletcher has been elected as Deputy Mayor of Cheshire East.

Cllr Fletcher, a Liberal Democrat, was voted in in his absence as he was unwell.

Cllr David Marren became the 12th mayor of the borough at a ceremony at the Tenants' Hall at Tatton Park yesterday (Wednesday).

He told councillors he will be raising funds during the year for Ukrainian refugees.

The Independent councillor, who represents Shavington, began his career in 1972 at Stafford Borough Council and was later to become an executive director at Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council.

Cllr Marren told the assembled guests: "I've been in local government ever since I left school. I've always enjoyed working in local government and I still do and I'm always looking for opportunities to make our services to the public better."

He said he was humbled by the honour of becoming mayor and 'I promise to do my utmost to further the interest of the area.'

"I wish to visit as many parts of Cheshire East and meet as many of our residents as I can during my term of office," he said.

"I know that we have amazing charities and community organisations, we have inspirational schools and youth groups, we have thousands of people who give up their time to volunteer.

"We also have amazing and innovative businesses and one thing that the mayoralty can do is to shine a light on those organisations and individuals and help celebrate their achievements and raise their profile."

Cllr Marren paid tribute to outgoing mayor Sarah Pochin for organising a vigil in Crewe in support of the Ukrainian people soon after the Russian invasion, and added that he would be using his term in office to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.

"As mayor I intend to continue this focus on helping those caught up in the Ukrainian conflict, a worrying and historically significant war, and so my charity work will be directly related," he said.

Cllr Marren and his consort and wife, Belinda.

Cllr Marren is a former mayor of Nantwich and was first elected to Cheshire East Council in 2011.

He has served on several committees and will now stand down as a director of Orbitas, the council's arms-length bereavement services company.

His wife, Belinda, becomes his consort.

Long serving Alsager councillor Rod Fletcher has been elected as Deputy Mayor of Cheshire East.

Cllr Fletcher was voted in in his absence as he was unwell.

Speaking after the ceremony the new mayor said: "If you wish to help Ukrainian refugees, please consider a donation, no matter how small, into the mayor's charity."

Donations to the mayor's charity can be made via: Barclays Bank – Sort Code 20-24-41; Acct No 83725464.