History was made in Felixstowe last night as the new mayor was sworn in at his own house.

Mark Jepson put on the mayoral chains in a remote ceremony on Zoom, after stepping up from deputy to replace the outgoing Nick Barber, who had served two of the past three years in the post.

It was the first time in the town's 94-year mayoral history that the badge of office has been handed to the new person outside of a formal presentation attended by the whole council, officials or guests.

Andrew Dotchin quoted Theodore Roosevelt and used the RAF motto, Per ardua ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "through adversity to the stars as part of his address, ahead of the change-over.

There was a minor technical glitch as Cllr Barber made his farewell speech to 16 town councillors and six council officers and more than 30 members of the public, handed over to the only candidate, Cllr Jepson, who had been proposed by Stuart Bird and seconded by Mick Richardson.

Cllr Jepson's wife Julie duly did the honours and he officially read his declaration and after a speech she was presented with her chain as consort. Cllr Sharon Harkin was named as Mark's deputy for 2020/21.

Mayor Jepson spoke of his appreciation to Cllr Barber who had taught him so much, and how he was looking forward to the challenge ahead.

He said: "I believe we are in a very good place as a Town Council as we hopefully start to slowly move out of lockdown, we have both experience, knowledge, and range of views and ideas that if used properly will help in providing the support Felixstowe will need.

"I am sure you all know that I don't care what party you represent, if you have a good idea and it benefits the town I am likely to fully support you. I would like to feel I have a good relationship with you all and genuinely look forward to working with you over the next 12 months.

"The way the Felixstowe Relief Charity has operated is testament to that and I thank Cllr Margaret Morris and Darren Aitchison for their hard work and support."

With lockdown easing Cllr Jepson is keen to look for a safe and responsible bounce back to help traders.

He said: "We need to think how we can support of town centre and sea front making ourselves visible and available as a Town Council to help develop ideas and strategies to encourage people to safely visit the town and start contributing to our economy.

"I am confident we will receive great support from the District, Chloe our Communities Officer as well as Visit Felixstowe and the Chamber of Commerce.

"An example is the forthcoming bank holiday weekend which will see more people back on the beach than we have witnessed so far this year,

"Of course people will be expected to behave responsibly as the majority have done respecting the need for social distancing at all times.

"However, we can expect visitor numbers to steadily increase as the lockdown eases and the weather continues to improve. This is of course welcome but along with that comes new challenges, especially when more tourism and retail businesses are allowed to reopen."

There was also a guest appearance by Ulrike Westkampe from Felixstowe town council's twin town of Wesel, who thanked Cllr Baberber and Jepson for the work they ahd done in the twinning and looked forward to being able to come to Felixstowe, after her planned trip this month was cancelled.

She explained how one person had died after being tested positive for Covid-19 from a population of 60,000.

Mrs Westkampe added: "We will conquer coronavirus all together in England and Germany we look forward to seeing you again in Felixstowe and Wessel."

• The three elements of the Felixstowe Town Mayor's official badge and chain are made up the original badge presented in 1926. The chain was introduced in 1955, and the RAF insignia marked the closing of the air station was added in 1962.