Maryport will be without a mayor for the first time in 43 years.

The town council’s ruling Labour group agreed that because there was no volunteer from its party, the £2,500 usually spent on the council’s honourary roles annually would be better spent on grants for community groups.

At the mayor-making ceremony on Monday, Stephen Ashworth, who has been a councillor for three years, proposed that the council should be without a mayor.

He said: “For a variety of reasons I move that we suspend the role of mayor and deputy mayor partly because it will be difficult for some people to carry out the role, because of ill health.

“I don’t feel I can serve the town well because I haven’t been on the council long enough.”

The mayor would traditionally be selected from the 14-member Labour group, as the council’s main group.

This year Angela Kendall has been elected as chairman instead.

It was agreed that she and the chairmen and vice chairmen of the council’s three committees would share civic duties in the town between them.

She said: “It was unanimous by the Labour group not to have a mayor.

“It’s always been that the mayor represents the controlling party, which in this instance is Labour.

“There’s a lot of time and commitment involved in being mayor.”

Coun Peter Kendall said a council representative would attend all functions within the town as usual but that there would be no Maryport representative at mayoral functions outside of the town.

Independent Gary Hampson, the town council’s only non- Labour member, was unable to attend the meeting.

He said later he had been willing to take on the role.

Outgoing mayor Linda Radcliffe said she would have been willing to nominate him, but the decision not to have a mayor was taken at a Labour meeting she could not attend.

She said: “Unfortunately I had a prior commitment on the night of the Labour group meeting where the mayoralty would be discussed, and the decision to have no mayor was made without me.”

She added: “Maryport is a proud town and deserves to be led properly.”