CREWE town councillors met up with each other in council business for the first time in over a year.

The authority's annual meeting was moved to the Salvation Army's Prince Albert Street hall after the government's statutes allowing council's to conduct business virtually during the pandemic expired.

The council's office is too small to accommodate meetings of the size of last night's (Tuesday) annual meeting, which like those going forward will have to be held physically with social distancing.

Bowing out as mayor after a two-year stint, Cllr Benn Minshall told fellow councillors: "It's a bit strange to be in the same room with you all again. I forgot what some of you look like.

"But it's a bitter sweet moment for me this as the prospect of becoming mayor was not something I planned or expected. When I started as a councillor eight years ago I'd made no secret that when the prospect of the town council was put to me I rejected it.

"It took conversations with people I trust, including [the late] Dorothy Flude, before I signed the form."

The mayor making ceremony saw Cllr Tom Dunlop read and sign the declaration after being confirmed as the new mayor for 2021/22. Cllr Nanette Walton will serve as deputy mayor.

The new mayor said he hoped his time in office would be marked by the community coming together again after the trials and sorrows of the pandemic.

"The Covid emergency has made it a very difficult life and it has left a lasting scar as we know that many people have been burdened by grief at losing loved ones," said the mayor.

"I hope that my year as mayor can be remembered as a time when we began to bring people back together and embrace this place we call home."