Warminster Town Council has elected its new mayor through a virtual vote.

At the council’s annual meeting (May 18), Warminster Town Council agreed that Cllr Chris Robbins will be the new mayor with Cllr Steve Jeffries as his deputy mayor.

He becomes the first mayor of Warminster to be elected through a virtual vote due to the restrictions put in place by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cllr Robbins, who is a third generation butcher in the town and his grandfather Frank Whitmarsh was also the Warminster mayor for a time.

After the meeting he said: “Thank you councillors for your vote of confidence.

“What we tend to do on Warminster Town Council is give everyone a chance and we bring in new councillors, we encourage them to take positions of authority. That’s what happened to me.

“It’s a great honour. I feel very privileged and I love my town, and I just want to put something back into the community after having the public support me for so many years.”

Former mayor, Cllr Paul MacFarlane took time to congratulate his successor and had, during the day, dropped the ceremonial chain to Cllr Robbins.

He said: “May I be the first to thank you and wish you the very best in your upcoming year.

“As we all know my mayoral year has been a challenge and ended early due to Covid-19.

“I wish to thank my fellow councillors for their support and advice throughout my year and in particular those councillors who have always been on the end of the phone and answered it when I needed their advice or a share in their great knowledge.”