A MAN who has been mayor of Bedale for only three months was still considering his future yesterday after he was fined for an offence involving tobacco products on which duty had not been paid.

A statement is expected at the next town council meeting on Monday following the case of 59-year-old Raymond Calvert, a councillor for seven years, who said he regretted the incident and stressed there had been no question of any personal gain.

A former town councillor who has known Calvert for many years said after the case that he was a hard worker for Bedale and had been unlucky.

Customs and Excise brought cases against Calvert, of South End, Bedale, secretary of the Riverside Club in Emgate, and Linda Christine Lloyd, a 48-year-old stewardess at the club, at Richmond magistrates' court on Monday.

Lloyd, of Emgate, pleaded guilty to one offence of offering unmarked tobacco products for sale at the club. Calvert admitted one offence of suffering club premises to be used for sale of such products. Tobacco products must carry a mark confirming that UK duty has been paid.

Lloyd and Calvert were both fined £300 but no costs were imposed.

The products involved 750 grammes of Golden Virginia hand rolling tobacco and 6,960 Palace cigarettes worth a total of £1,000 in revenue.

The cases arose after Customs and Excise officers visited the club, formerly the Comrades, in January this year.

Calvert said after the hearing: "I regret this incident. This was not for personal gain whatsoever. I was there as secretary of the committee of the club and not in a personal capacity. I did not know this had happened.

"This has nothing to do with my being Mayor of Bedale. This happened long before I became mayor."

But he added: "I am now considering my position as a councillor and as mayor."

Deputy mayor Coun Ellen Dunning and the town council's most senior member, Coun John Weighell, who is also leader of North Yorkshire County Council, declined to comment after the case.

Lloyd did not respond to a message left at her home by the D&S Times offering her an opportunity to comment.

Calvert was voted into the mayoral position in May to succeed Coun Weighell after deputy mayor Coun John Noone, who had been expected to take up the reins for the coming year, resigned in protest at a code of conduct imposed on town and parish councils by the Government.

Mr Noone, who joined the town council at the same time as Calvert and has known him for about 17 years, gave him a character reference for the court hearing.

He said: "As an ex-councillor, I think it is unfortunate when anyone gets tangled up in anything like this. It is not the image you want to portray. Ray has been a bit unlucky.

"As far as I am concerned, Ray is an honest, hard-working chap who gives up a lot of free time to the town and to voluntary work.

"He has been unlucky to get embroiled in something that might detract from the hard work he is doing for the town."

Calvert, widely regarded as a promising mayor in a role he has never filled before, has had a keen interest in local junior football and Scouts and Guides and was a member of the committee which organised celebrations in Bedale to mark the Queen's golden jubilee.

He had been mayor for only a few weeks when, in June, he made a mark by severely criticising the standard of cleanliness in Bedale and calling for a meeting with senior officers of Hambleton District Council.

The criticism had the desired effect, because within only two weeks he was leading a town council delegation on a tour of problem areas with Hambleton representatives who admitted later that some elements of the street cleaning service could be improved