THE deputy Town Mayor of Otley is an extremely worried man.

Councillor Mike Evans fears he may be being sent into exile - like Napoleon - on the South Atlantic island of St Helena.

Councillor Evans, pictured, is travelling to one of the few remaining British protectorates in the world to help the St Helenan government on issues of childcare.

The only problem is, so far he's only been given a one-way ticket to the tiny island with a population of just 5,500.

His journey will take him by military aircraft (there are no commercial flights to the island), from RAF Brize Norton, in the south of England, to Ascension Island, which was used by the British armed forces as a refueling point during the Falklands conflict.

Coun Evans will then have to wait for a mail boat (which has come from Cardiff via Tenerife) for the last part of his journey - a three day trip to St Helena.

"St Helena is 17,000 miles off the coast of Angola, in the middle of the South Atlantic and it's not easy to get to.

"At the moment, I've only been given a one-way ticket and I'm getting a bit concerned I'm being sent into exile like Napoleon," added Coun Evans.

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