CANCER sufferers and head injury patients have been put at the top of the list by Lancaster's new Mayor.

Coun John Gilbert was officially appointed yesterday (Wednesday) in a ceremony at the Town Hall.

He says he is 'thrilled' to be the city's new first citizen - and will be naming Macmillan Cancer Care and Headway as his charities for the year.

Mr Gilbert - who takes over from Coun Irene Blamire - says: "Most people in the area have or know someone who has been treated for cancer and Headway is a charity which helps people who have suffered head injuries."

Although reluctant to go into detail, he adds: "My wife almost needed them a few years ago."

Mr Gilbert moved to the area from the south of England in 1968 when he clinched a maths teaching post at Lancaster University.

He has been married to his second wife Pamela - who is to be Mayoress - for 28 years.

Mr Gilbert has three children from his first marriage, two step children and eight grandchildren.

Apart from his official role of chairing the council, he sees his job this year as trying to promote better relations between local residents and the authority, and he says he is looking forward to meeting as many people as possible across the district.

Controversy has surrounded the Mayor's post in recent after 95-year-old Coun Arthur Briggs was nominated. Many said he was too old for the role - but he failed to win his Bolton-le-Sands seat at election two weeks ago, bringing an end to the furore.

Mr Gilbert says: "I was not happy that we faced uncertainty and had to wait until the election to know who would be Mayor - and I was expecting him to get in. But he had been mayor before."

Mr Gilbert was drawn to local government in the Eighties because he did not agree with the politics of the day.

"I felt that I could not sit back and criticise if I was not prepared to act so I decided the only thing I could do was to take part," says the SDP councillor.

His first attempt to win a seat in Scotforth East failed, but he was elected in 1986.

His first engagement is tomorrow (Friday) when he will meet the Lancastrian and Cum-brian Volunteers.