CHORLEY'S new mayor Mel Coombes was installed this week with a vision of "harmony" for the borough.

The south east ward Labour councillor officially replaced outgoing mayor, Conservative George Birtill, at the annual meeting of Chorley Borough Council on Tuesday night.

He will tell guests in a speech at the mayoral dinner and dance in Chorley Town Hall on Friday evening that he wants to see "a more integrated society" and to break through "the glass case of indifference and move to a more caring society."

Mr Coombes has gone to great lengths to try to make sure the right charities benefit from fund-raising during his year in office.

He set up an advisory committee to consider the issue and chose about eight local charities, including St Catherine's Hospice, establishing at the same time the Mayor's Helping Hand Charity Trust.

He said: "I wanted to concentrate on the domestic market, smaller charities, and wrote asking them to provide me with information."

Mr Coombes first joined the council in 1974 and has been a chairman, vice chairman and spokesman on most major committees.

An MA, MEd, Ba, BSc and Grad MB of the Psycho Society, Mr Coombes paid tribute to Mr Birtill's "fine work."

"I thank him for having promoted the image of Chorley throughout the county. He is well known and a difficult act to follow," he said.

Mr Coombes has chosen Marion Winder as his mayoress. She replaces Margaret Nicol.

This year's deputy mayor and mayoress are Lindsay Hoyle and his wife Cath.

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