THERE is a new Mayor in charge in Upton-Upon-Severn.

At the annual meeting of Upton Town Council on May 21, outgoing Mayor Simon Yates handed over the role to Councillor Henrietta Ross after his two year stint in the job came to an end.

Addressing the council after handing over the chain, Cllr Yates said: "I would like to thank my fellow councillors at town, district and county levels and of course the residents of Upton for their support over the last two years.

"It was not easy, we had the roadworks and gas works but no flood fortunately.

"It was a real honour to be Mayor and now I am back in the ranks I will be looking forward to working with the new Mayor."

Upon being made Mayor, Cllr Ross said: "I am honoured to be Mayor so soon after becoming a councillor.

"I will try to serve and represent the town to the best of my ability.

"I am sure that the former Mayors on the Town Council will point me in the right direction if I am going wrong and hope we have a very successful year."

The meeting also saw three new councillors co-opted to the Town Council, with Neil Baldwin, Grant Laughton-McConnon and Angela Conway taking up their seats during the meeting.

Also heard at the meeting was the news that, although the Town Council had received money for CCTV in the play park, the Upton Business Association had failed to reach an agreement with Lloyds Bank to get funding.

Nonetheless, Councillors were told that the cameras are due to be installed over the next few months, with the order for the cameras having been placed.

There will be five cameras in place, one of which will be on a five-metre retractable pole, with images being sent to the town hall where they can be accessed if needed.

Also discussed was speed data for Old Street, with Councillors debating the merits of different speed reduction measures.

Cllr Graham Francis said: "While we may not like it, these figures seem to suggest there is not excessive speeding in Old Street.

"The figures suggest there is not really much hope of slowing the traffic down."