COUNCILLOR Sylvia Thomson was elected as the new Otley Town Mayor at the AGM of Otley Town Council on Monday.

For her mayoral year Cllr Thomson has chosen to support the charities Weston Lane Juniors Football Club and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

“As I represent Ashfield Ward, I wanted to support Weston Lane Juniors,” she said. “The club was established in 1957 to give children access to skilled football training that’s fun but also makes the most of their abilities. I’m pleased to see that they are now encouraging girls to take up the sport. My final charity is Yorkshire Air Ambulance. They provide a lifesaving, rapid response emergency service which I feel is vital for Otley and the surrounding area. They do not receive any funding from central Government and rely totally on donations to the charity.”

The new deputy town mayor is Cllr Linda Hoare.