A HAULAGE contractor has been elected as the new chairman of Craven District Council.

Cllr Chris Moorby was unanimously voted in as chairman at the Annual Council Meeting with Cllr Stephen Place unanimously elected as vice-chairman.

Cllr Moorby, who represents the Long Preston ward, injected a note of humour into the meeting by pointing out his Gryffindor tie, from the Harry Potter series, and saying: “Hopefully it might bring a touch of wizardry to this chamber.”

He replaces Cllr Robert Mason in the role.

“I would like to thank the outgoing chairman Robert for being the face of Craven District Council and for all the hard work undertaken by himself and his wife Margaret over the last year," said Cllr Moorby.

“My aim is to keep meetings as informal as possible and hopefully with a touch of light-heartedness.

“Over the last four years I’ve seen councillors working towards what’s in the best interest of the council and the best interests of the district. I’m sure even in these times of relentless cutbacks and uncertainty this will continue.

“I will strive to be a good chairman and with the aid of my fellow councillors and staff at Craven District Council I feel I will have a very good chance of succeeding.”

The chairman’s chosen charity this year will be the Marie Curie charity.

“Cancer has been a blight in my life,” said Cllr Moorby. “I had a cancer scare and I lost my mother at nine years old to cancer, and we lost Andy Quinn and Donnie Whaites to cancer. I feel that the families need support and the Marie Curie nurses need our help to give that support.”

Cllr Moorby has been on the council since 2012 and has lived in Long Preston all his life.

He will be accompanied on his civic duties by his wife, Janet.

Handing over the chairman’s chains, Cllr Mason said: “I’d like to say what a privilege and honour it has been to represent Craven District Council.

"If someone had said to me, ‘one day you’ll be chairman of the council’ I’d have said ‘get on your bike’. I was honoured and chuffed to be chosen as chairman and I’ve tried to do my best with it.”