THE question of who is going to be the next Mayor of Ribble Valley hangs in the balance - literally.

For although Liberal Democrat Councillor Eileen Lowe has been deputy mayor for the last 12 months and is prepared to be mayor, the Conservative group have issued a mayoral challenge.

And with Ribble Valley council being a balanced council - both the Liberal Democrats and the Tories have 19 members each - the final decision could either come down to lone Labour member Councillor Bert Jones or Conservative Mayor Councillor Dorothy Pearson's casting vote.

Council leader Conservative Chris Holtom said: "In an ideal world we would prefer not to challenge for the mayoralty.

"Twelve months ago, the voters of Ribble Valley returned a balanced council and this puts the position of Mayor in a unique situation.

"I would like to place on record my high regard for Councillor Eileen Lowe. "There are three long-serving councillors who have not yet had the opportunity to be mayor and one of those is Charles Warkman. I will be proposing him at the annual meeting next week.

"Anyone who has sat in the public gallery over the last 12 months will know that we have had many difficult situations to cope with.

"I believe that my Conservative group have the right balance of experience and knowledge to deliver the best service to our customers at the lowest possible cost and it is my duty to try and retain the leadership and administration of Ribble Valley Borough Council."

But the Tory challenge to the mayoralty has been slammed by both the Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Howel Jones and Labour's Bert Jones.

Bert Jones said: "I may be old fashioned but I believe the mayoralty has got something to do with tradition and protocol and I think that has been broken now.

"To turn the mayoralty into a political football is not the best way to treat the post of first citizen.

"The deputy mayor has done her job over the last 12 months and I will be supporting her to become the next Mayor of Ribble Valley." Coun Howel Jones said: "A year ago, we gave our support to Councillor Dorothy Pearson to become Mayor although it cost us dearly.

"On that occasion and twice since, I have approached the Conservatives with the view that the proper way forward for an evenly balanced council over a four-year period is to alternate the mayoralty.

"However they have declined to agree.

"The annual meeting on Tuesday is going to be very much a numbers game and we will not know until then who the next Mayor of Ribble Valley is going to be."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.