BRIDGWATER'S new Mayor has been officially installed as the town's first citizen.

Cllr Liz Leavy was inducted at the Mayor Making ceremony in Bridgwater Town Hall on Friday (July 15).

Cllr Leavy, who has three grown-up children, four grandchildren and a great grandchild, has lived in the town for many years and is currently a town and district councillor representing the Hamp ward.

She has a degree in German and French from London University and subsequently completed a social work qualification at the London School of Economics.

After working for three years with overseas students and a further period as a neighbourhood worker on a large London housing estate she embarked on a teaching career.

Following a short time living in Dublin, she returned to Bridgwater in the early seventies and continued to teach in local schools while raising her children, finishing her career at Bishop Fox’s School, in Taunton.

After her husband’s death, Liz worked at Bridgwater Library for a number of years.

She also served as a magistrate on the Sedgemoor bench for over 30 years.