Youngest ever mayor

Councillor David Pownall, representative for Middleforth Green, will take over from current mayor Norman Crossley.

The Labour councillor is the son of a former Preston mayor, Joseph Pownall.

Coun Pownall said: "I have always had an interest in politics. My father was mayor of Preston, and ever since an early age I was helping him. Now I'm going to be mayor myself."

Coun Pownall, 44, was born in Preston, and went to school at St Augustine's Primary, St Austin's Place, then at St John Fisher High.

A self-employed plasterer by trade, Coun Pownall stepped into the public spotlight at an early age, when he was elected to South Ribble Borough Council in 1990.

He said: "Being a councillor is one of those things you have to like, otherwise you wouldn't do it.

"I was a councillor for a short while in 1990, but I lost the seat in the 1992 by-election."

But Coun Pownall was soon back in politics, and in 1995 was back on the council.

In May, he will be installed as South Ribble Borough Council's latest mayor, along with his wife, Christine, who will be mayoress.

He said: " I'm going to be pretty strict chairing full council meetings. I'm not going to take any messing from anybody!

"Every mayor is different and each one puts their own stamp on the job. I hope to raise the profile of the role of the mayoralty, and of the work of the council -- especially among the younger people who seem to be a bit apathetic. They don't think it's relevant to them.

"I think by being a younger mayor that could help. Mayors do tend to be stereotyped as a portly old chap in a big fur coat. But real life isn't like Dick Whittington."

Coun Pownall, currently the chairman of the council's planning committee, has also named the charities he intends to support, among them are Chorley and South Ribble MIND, a mental health charity.