A hairdresser and former pie shop owner has been elected the new chairman of Morecambe Town Council.
Russell Walsh, who runs Directors Cutz barber shop in Bare and owned Potts Pies in the Lancaster and Morecambe area for 17 years, was voted into the role on Thursday night.
Councillor Walsh, a Morecambe Bay Independent (MBI), was chosen to take the chair for a year, gaining 14 votes against nine for Councillor Claire Cozler of Labour.
Councillor Cozler has been chair for the past 12 months.
Former Morecambe High School pupil Councillor Walsh was elected to the town council in May 2023 and represents Bare North.
At Thursday's meeting, Councillor Walsh was also chosen to represent the town council on a project board for the Frontierland site in Morecambe.
This board will look at securing a partner to work alongside landowners Lancaster City Council to finally develop the former Wild West theme park on land which has been mainly derelict for almost 25 years.
The town council thanked Councillor Cozler for her year as chair.
Also at the meeting, Councillor Geoff Knight of the MBIs was elected vice-chairman of the council.
The MBIs, who are the majority group on the town council, also swept the vote for chairs of the council's committees.
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