DEPUTY mayor Steve Watts has been elected to be the next mayor for Royal Wootton Bassett.

Councillors voted in favour of the councillor to take the place of current mayor Mike Farrow in May, although there was debate over whether the Conservative group had too much control over the mayorship.

It was noted that the party had held onto the ceremonial chair since 1999.

Conservative Cllr Paul Heaphy said: "We should have a discussion about it because 17 years is too long."

Cllr Steve Watts said: "It is a non-political thing, there shouldn't be any politics in a town council any way."

LibDem Cllr Marion Sweet added: "The people of this town should be represented, there are a large amount of Liberal Democrats here. We need to talk about how we bring this to the table."