PRESTON'S first Asian councillor is set to make history for the second time -- by becoming the first Asian mayor.

When the next elections take place, in May this year, long-serving councillor Jonathan Saksena will be installed in the historic position -- the first mayor of the city of Preston.

He takes over from the current mayor, Coun Alan Hackett, and is hoping to bring a new approach to the role, with two mayoresses, Coun Jean Al-Serraj and Mrs Wyn Dillon.

He said: "Every mayor has a different style and I hope to use my background as much as I can."

Brookfield Ward councillor Saksena has had close links with the town since he was born at the former Preston Royal Infirmary in 1951.

A pupil of St Maria Goretti RC Primary School, Gamull Lane, Ribbleton, Mr Saksena shone in education and was awarded a BA joint honours degree in French and Latin, Greek and Astronomy from Keele University in 1973.

He was elected to the borough council in 1984 as councillor for the Brookfield Ward -- the first councillor of Asian descent in twon's history.

Now, after nearly 20 years in local politics, Coun Saksena is looking forward to becoming mayor. He said: "I bring 18 years of experience of being a member of the council, so I understand how the council works. That experience will come in very handy.

"But the mayoralty is not the person in it, but the office itself. There's an awful lot of tradition.

"The mayor is basically an ambassador for the town, and the figurehead of the council. It is very much a neutral role in meetings, though."

Coun Saksena has been involved in library work since the seventies, when he was the last officer to be appointed by the former Preston County Borough, as a library assistant at the Harris Museum.

Coun Saksena now works as assistant librarian for music and drama requests as Lancashire County Library, and is also the Preston City Council cabinet member for best value.

Coun Saksena said: "The most daunting thing I'm facing is the mayor's engagements! I was talking to a former mayor and he said he had around six hundred appointments in a year, and once had five in one day. The deputy has to do some of them because it's impossible to do all of them yourself!"

Coun Saksena is due to become Mayor on May 17, if he remains in his seat as Brookfield councillor after the local elections on May 2.