A BURNLEY man has been given the task of overseeing Ribble Valley Council after he was chosen as its new chief executive.

Father-of-two Marshal Scott, 53, is the council’s director of resources and will take up his new role when existing chief executive David Morris retires in April.

Mr Scott’s appointment has been welcomed by leading councillors who said there had been a number of applications for the role.

Ribble Valley Council leader Michael Ranson said: “The standard of the candidates was very high and the selection process extremely thorough.

“We believe Marshal will bring considerable skill and expertise to the role of chief executive at Ribble Valley Borough Council and we are looking forward to working with him.”

Mr Scott has a strong track record in local government finance having joined Burnley Council in 1973 where he trained as an accountant.

He was appointed the council’s senior accountant in 1980 and in 1986 joined Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council as group accountant.

He joined Ribble Valley Council in 1988 as the authority’s accountancy and computer services manager.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, and leads a team of 60 at Ribble Valley Council, which has an excellent record in efficient and effective service delivery.

The council’s council tax and benefits teams are consistently among the top performing in the country.

Mr Scott was born in Crawshawbooth and attended Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School.

A keen golfer with a 10 handicap, Marshal is a member of and treasurer at Burnley Golf Club.

He is married with two grown-up children and lives in Burnley.