MOLD'S new mayor has pledged to support her community as it deals with the ongoing impact of covid-19.

Councillor Teresa Carberry was elected mayor at Mold Town Council's annual meeting on Wednesday night. As the meeting was held via Zoom, members viewed a pre-prepared video in which Cllr Carberry received the chain of office from her father Peter - who is to be her consort for the year - in her garden.

In her speech, she told her fellow councillors: "I take this responsibility and the trust you have shown in me very seriously.

"I will serve the people of Mold to the best of my abilities with humility, fairness, enthusiasm, compassion and dedication to our community.

"This crisis has shown that in our town there are countless individuals making a real difference by doing their bit.

"They are the unsung heroes of our community who contribute so much, often with no recognition - I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"There can be no doubt that we are all facing difficult times, not least economically, and the future looks challenging.

"But challenges are accompanied with change and this in turn can provide new opportunities.

"Many difficult decisions will need to be made form national to local level, including town councils.

"These decisions will affect us all and it is essential that we work together to maintain and improve Mold for the benefit of all concerned.

"Your town council will strive to make sure we are proactive in recognising those opportunities and take full advantage of them."

Speaking to the Leader after the meeting Cllr Carberry, a teacher at the Alun School for more than 30 years, said she will be prioritising the support of retail and industry as well as children for her forthcoming year.

She explained: "People in Mold are going to need a lot of help and I want to do what I can with the other councillors to help them through it. "As a teacher I am concerned that children will not have gone through this unscathed and looking after their emotional health and wellbeing is going to be important.

"I also want to try to do everything I can to help retail and industry in our area to get back on its feet and really make sure we do our best to help our residents as much as we can."

Cllr Carberry also thanked her predecessor, cllr Tim Maunders, for his hard work during his year in office.

At the town council's annual meeting, members also voted to elect Cllr Sarah Taylor as deputy mayor for the forthcoming year.

Cllr Taylor told the meeting: "I will work as hard as I can this year - it is going to be difficult but I look forward to a busy year. "Thank you very much for putting your confidence in me."