THE new mayor of Great Aycliffe has been elected during the annual meeting of the Town Council.

The chain of office was handed to Councillor Mary Dalton by the previous mayor, Councillor Val Raw.

Coun Dalton was born in Holland and moved to England in 1948 to marry her husband Reg - a veteran in the Normandy Campaign.

The couple have two sons, Jan, who lives in Richmond, North Yorkshire, and Michael, who lives in Newton Aycliffe. They also have two grandchildren.

Coun Dalton thanked the council and announced that her nominated charity for her year in office would be the Great North Air Ambulance and a number of other smaller organisations in the town.