Denby Dale councillor Jim Dodds will be the new Kirklees Deputy Mayor for 2015/16.

Clr Dodds will be deputy to Clr Paul Kane (Labour, Dewsbury East) when he takes the chain of office in May.

He said: “I am delighted to have been chosen for this honour and, as with all the work I do, will give my full commitment.”

Clr Dodds will be supported by his wife Carol, as his deputy mayoress.

He is a former military man who reached the rank of major in the army before retiring in 1997.

A father-of-two born in Scotland, he became Conservative ward councillor for his adopted home area of Denby Dale in 2004 and has been a councillor ever since.

Clr Dodds, who lives in Upper Cumberworth, said he has always tried to make a difference to the community he lives in and will extend this to the deputy mayor role and ultimately his year as mayor.

He is the driving force behind the move to take Denby Dale library into community hands and make it an improved local asset for the village incorporating the library, internet café, charity shop, offices and meeting areas in a new building.