Kingsbridge has a new mayor in the shape of former deputy mayor Cllr Anne Balkwill, as she takes over from Cllr Chris Povey.

Cllr Povey stepped down as mayor at Kingsbridge Town Council’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, May 8, handing the role over to Cllr Balkwill.

Cllr Povey took a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to thank district and county councillors Keith Wingate, Julian Brazil and Rufus Gilbert for “having Kingsbridge’s interests at heart”, Sgt Dave Green of Devon and Cornwall Police for “being the best dressed man in the room” and for both himself and his team for making sure Kingsbridge is a “safe and hugely enjoyable place to live”. He also thanked the Gazette “in the age of fake news and Russian influence for excellent and honest reporting”.

He thanked each of his fellow councillors in turn, and Town Clerk Martin Johnson “for being a pleasure to work with” and “working so hard and embracing your job with such enthusiasm”. Cllr Wingate added: “Ask Martin your minute your thanks, he’s too polite to write that down”.

Chris ended by congratulating Anne on her new role, saying “thank you for being such a superb deputy and can’t think of a safer pair of hands to pass the reins on to, I know you’ll do a much better job than me”.

He said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to chair this council, we have achieved a lot and we now have a council that people queue to join.”

The deputy mayor role has been filled by recent addition to the council, Cllr Mike Jennings.