A DEFIANT mayor, who was convicted for his part in selling contraband cigarettes, has insisted he will remain in his post.

Coun Ray Calvert - who became the civic leader of Bedale only three months ago - said he had done nothing to harm the town and would not be stepping down.

Coun Calvert, 59, was fined £300 by magistrates in Richmond earlier this month after admitting a charge of allowing cigarettes without the proper markings to be sold at the Bedale Riverside Club, where he is voluntary secretary.

Club stewardess Linda Christine Lloyd, 48, of Emgate, Bedale, was also fined the same amount after pleading guilty to a similar offence.

The charges related to a total of 750gms of hand-rolling tobacco and 6,960 cigarettes recovered from the club after a visit from Customs officers earlier this year. The court was told the revenue on the bootleg products would have been about £1,000.

But at a council meeting last week Coun Calvert announced to colleagues and townsfolk that he believed his conviction had not tarnished the town.

He said: "I do not consider that I have done anything to bring the council into disrepute and therefore I do not intend to resign.

"I have been touched by the level of support I have received from the electorate and members of the town council."

Coun Calvert has been a member of Bedale Town Council for seven years and was elected to succeed John Weighell in May.

Following his conviction, he had insisted there was no question of personal gain on his part, but said he regretted the incident.