Councillor for Penryn West Charles 'Chaz' Wenmoth took over from councillor Shelley Peters at a ceremony on Thursday to become Penryn's newest mayor.

Councillor Peters, who has served as mayor since 2017, told the Packet that she was "incredibly proud" to have been in the role.

She said: "I never thought for one minute that I would be the mayor of the town that I love so much. It's been an amazing experience, I've met some wonderful people, I got to do some things that I never would have got the chance to do.

"I've been incredibly proud to do it. There was a little bit of me that wasn't quite ready to hand over to Chaz, but it's his time and he's been a great support as deputy.

"I don't plan to stop doing things just because I'm no longer mayor."

Taking over the reigns from councillor Peters is councillor Wenmoth, who has served as deputy mayor since 2017.

Speaking about the mayor-making ceremony on Thursday evening, councillor Wenmoth said: "It was a very good night, I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a good turnout of people, especially from the town and groups in the town." One of councillor Wenmoth's main aims as mayor is to promote the small businesses and community groups that do work in Penryn.

He said: "All those groups within the town, they don't realise it but by talking to people and making the facilities available they are doing something towards helping mental illness. People need something to look forward to and those groups do create that atmosphere.

"It's purely my opinion that people sometimes don't see all the good that's done in the town. It doesn't matter which part of town you go, there's people doing something for someone else. That's what I personally love about Penryn. I call them random acts of kindness, I see people doing them every week, and not for gain.

"What I'm hoping to do is to highlight the things that actually happen in Penryn. People usually use Penryn as a place you pass through, but as they stop and investigate they see that we have got all these new businesses springing up and I admire the people who have got the gumption to start businesses in these times. Penryn has come through hard times and it will again."