BRIDGWATER'S mayor Cllr Diogo Rodrigues visited Bridgwater & Taunton College this week, where he was welcomed by a group of young students eager to take part in a lively debate.

The students asked the Cllr Rodrigues questions about his role as mayor, the role of a councillor and questions on current affairs from carnival to social media.

Cllr Rodrigues said: “These young people were genuinely interested in the role of local politicians and what it takes to be a councillor and mayor.

"It was really inspiring to see young people so engaged and interested in what goes on in the local community.

"They really are our future and we need more young people to take an interest in our community, after all, they are the future leaders of our town."

With the mayor being so active and engaged through social media, he was invited to take part in a lively debate on the pros and cons of social media with the students.

“There really is so much benefit to using social media and the young people argued that point quite brilliantly.

"Personally, it has played an instrumental part in my vision of reaching out and engaging with the wider community.

"We also recognised the harm social media can cause, including to our mental health, with people able to easily say things online that they perhaps wouldn’t say so easily to someone on the street.”

The mayor has been quite active on social media with his vision of making the role more relevant for the 21st Century, especially with the regular ‘Mayor Goes Live’ sessions on Facebook, a live Q&A where members of the public are encouraged to take part.