EIGHT new honorary alderman have been elected in recognition of their eminent service to North Yorkshire.

And for the first time in the county's history their numbers include a posthumous honour.

The honour was given at an extraordinary meeting of North Yorkshire County Council to Michael Heseltine in recognition of his 40 years as a county councillor from 1977 to 2016.

Cllr Heseltine, a Conservative who represented Richmondshire North, died last December aged 78. Before his retirement he taught for many years at Scorton Grammar School.

He sat on most of the council’s committees over the years and was chairman of the county council in 2005-6.

Also elected to the position were:

Shelagh Marshall, who served as a county councillor from 1989 to 2017.

Bill Hoult, who served from 1993 to 2017.

Chris Metcalfe, who served from 1993 to 2017.

Margaret-Ann de Courcey-Bayley, who served from 1997 to 2017.

John Fort, who served from 1997 to 2017.

John Savage,who served from 1997 to 2017.

Bernard Bateman, a former county council chairman who served from 1997 to 2017.

The certificates of office were presented by the current chairman of the county council, Cllr Helen Swiers.