NEW Devizes Mayor Jane Burton, who was born and bred in the town, is looking forward to a packed diary for the next 12 months.

Mrs Burton, 68, has just started her second stint in the top civic job and hopes her previous experience will stand her in good stead.

She said: "I loved being mayor the first time because it was a wonderful chance to find out about all the different groups I didn't even know existed. It is amazing how you can live in the town for as long as I have and not realise about some of the wonderful work that goes on.

"I am really looking forward to doing that again and meeting people. That is the part of the job that I really enjoy."

She said that as a retired person she was hoping to get to as many appointments as possible. She said: "I am very excited and honoured to be elected again. I am expecting to have a very busy diary."

She has chosen two charities close to her heart to support during her mayoral year. Her husband Richard, 69, has suffered from prostate cancer and she will be supporting the local branch of Prostate Cancer UK.

She is also supporting the local branch of the Firefighters Charity as her son Daniel is a crew manager. She said: "I have chosen these charities as they are important to me and my family but I also hope to make a donation to Julia's House. I am very pleased the charity is going to be opening a hospice in Devizes and want to support it."

Grandmother Mrs Burton, was first elected to Devizes Town Council in 2003, was also a Wiltshire Councillor from 2009 until 2013. She worked as a dispensing technician in a Devizes chemist for most of her career. She was previously mayor in 2008/9.

She was proud in 2014 when her daughter Sarah, a fellow Guardian on the town council, followed in her footsteps and became mayor.