A row erupted over who should be the next town mayor after it was claimed that councillors were approached about how to vote.

Charles Maudling was elected as the new mayor of Whitehaven, with Edwin Dinsdale as his deputy, at Whitehaven Town Council’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

But before members cast their votes, Cllr Maudling asked for an explanation as to why one of the town clerks had been approaching councillors, asking them to vote for Graham Roberts.

Marlene Jewell, town clerk replied: “Well, I haven’t approached anybody. I definitely have not. I have heard rumours of councillors asking other councillors to vote for them but I don’t want to go into that here.”

Vanessa Gorley, assistant town clerk, was not in attendance at the meeting but has since told The Whitehaven News: "I have not spoken to any councillors to influence the vote. We are not here for that."

Ray Gill nominated Graham Roberts for the role, saying he had been on the council since day one, was well-known in the town, and supports every town council event.

The nomination was seconded by Chris Hayes, the current mayor of Whitehaven. Cllr Maudling then pointed out that Cllr Roberts had already held the roles of mayor and deputy mayor.

Cllr Gill replied: “You can be the same mayor all year, every year. Because you’ve held the office, doesn’t mean you can’t hold it twice. Brian O’Kane held it three years.”

Cllr Maudling said: “I totally oppose that. We all start off here and say there’s no political thing here. There might not be anything political, but we’re certainly a clique.”

Julie Rayson nominated Cllr Maudling for the role of mayor, which was seconded by Gemma Dinsdale.

Cllr Roberts received four votes while Cllr Maudling secured six votes and was appointed the new mayor of Whitehaven.

Chris Hayes was put forward for the role of deputy mayor by Ray Gill, and this was seconded by Johnnie Carr.

Edwin Dinsdale was nominated by Gemma Dinsdale, which was seconded by Cllr Maudling. Cllrs Hayes and Dinsdale received five votes each, with Cllr Maudling using his casting vote to appoint Cllr Dinsdale to the role.