A UNIQUE 'clean sweep' of civic duties was claimed when Liberal councillor Edwina Sargeant donned the robes and chains of office, to become Pendle's Millennium Mayor.

Coun Sargeant became the first person in the borough to have held the offices of deputy Mayoress, Mayoress, deputy Mayor and Mayor, when she was installed as the area's First Citizen in a ceremony at Nelson Town Hall yesterday.

Her diplomatic skills will be put to the test over the coming 12 months, following her party's loss of overall control of the authority. Just two hours after the sweetness and light of the Mayor-making ceremony, political rivals were again at each others throats.

She hinted at what was in store during her maiden speech. "Partnership is what Pendle is renowned for and it is what we will need during what what we all know will be a far from easy year on the political front," she said.

The Mayoress' fund will raise money for the Samaritans, Pendle Stroke Group and to provide equipment for midwives at Nelson and Colne health centres. The Mayoress is Councillor Dorothy Lord and the Mayor's chaplain is the Rev Michael Hartley, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Colne.

Councillor Gill Gilhespy, in moving Coun Sargeant as Mayor, said: "She has never neglected her duties to the people of Pendle. I'm more than confident that in proposing Councillor Sargeant as Mayor I'm appointing an excellent ambassador for this borough."

A vote of thanks was passed to outgoing Mayor Councillor Colin Waite. He and his wife attended more than 400 Civic engagements over the past 12 months.

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