A NEW mayor for Haslemere took up the chains of office at a ceremony which also saw recently elected town councillors hold their first official meeting.

The outgoing mayor, Stephen Mulliner, handed over to Michael Foster at the "mayor making" ceremony last week.

Mr Foster has been a town councillor since 1999. His wife Fay is also a very active town councillor and a former mayor .

Taking up the role of deputy town mayor is Conservative councillor for Hindhead, Jean Arrick. Mrs Arrick teaches psychology to sixth form students at The Royal School, Haslemere.

Mr Foster has chosen the Haslemere Hall as his mayoral charity. As a former president of Haslemere Players, Mr Foster has first-hand experience of the importance of the hall to the town.

At the meeting, he described the hall as being an essential part of Haslemere's cultural life.

This week, at a ceremony at Waverley Borough Council's HQ in Godalming, the Lib Dems elected the borough mayor and deputy mayor. The borough councillor for Elstead, Richard Terry, took over as mayor from Brian Ellis, and the deputy mayor is a Farnham councillor, Victor Duckett.

The charities Mr Terry has chosen to support are Riding for the Disabled at Cranleigh, Talk - supporting people who have suffered loss of speech after a stroke, and Music in Hospitals - a national charity that gives live concerts to the long-term chronically sick and people with learning difficulties.