PRESTWICH councillor Wilf Davison is to be the next Mayor of Bury.

He will be only the second Liberal councillor to become "first citizen" in the metropolitan borough's 29-year history.

Coun Davison (64), who represents Holyrood ward, said he would be "delighted and honoured" to take over the top job in May from the current mayor, Labour councillor John Smith.

Coun Davison, of Branksome Avenue, Prestwich, is leader of the three-strong Liberal Democrat group on Bury Council. By May, he will have notched up seven years service. The only previous mayor not aligned to Labour or the Tories was Liberal councillor Samuel Pepperman in 1976-77.

Originally from Liverpool, Coun Davison moved to Prestwich in 1978. He worked as a senior manager at MANCAT before taking retirement. His wife Maureen will be the mayoress, and they have one son and four daughters.

"I'll be 65 in June, so it's a nice early birthday present," he said. "It's a marvellous honour, I'm delighted, and I hope I can do justice to it.

"Prestwich has now provided the mayor in two of the last three years, which is not bad going for this end of the borough."