A LONGRIDGE councillor has resigned as mayor just hours before being sworn in.

Coun David Smith was made deputy mayor of the Ribble Valley on Tuesday and after a day of deliberation said he could not do the two jobs at once.

Coun Smith, a Conservative, was elected to the Ribble Valley civic hierarchy by just one vote, fighting off stiff competition from Liberal Democrat nominee Coun Brian Collis.

He will deputise for mayor Coun Jenny Grimes, a working nurse, so is expected to be kept busy, on top of his duties as a senior tutor at Longridge High School.

His replacement at Longridge, Coun Rose Croasdale, was to have been deputy mayor.

Coun Croasdale, a company accountant at Jones Stroud Insulations, stepped into the breech after Coun Smith tendered his resignation to a stunned audience.

Coun Croasdale is a town and borough councillor and member of the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley District Youth Committee.

She said she was delighted at her new appointment.

The deputy mayor is now Coun Kevin Rogerson.

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