OSWESTRY Town Council will hold a virtual meeting to confirm Councillor Duncan Kerr as mayor on Wednesday.

The meeting will be held on Zoom from 7pm on Wednesday and will see Cllr Kerr replace Cllr John Price as leader of the council.

It will start with Cllr Kerr's signing of the declaration of acceptance of office before his motion that the council support his request that the Mayoral Allowance of £4,979 is paid directly to the Mayor’s chosen charity, Shropshire Domestic Abuse Charity.

He will also propose a vote of thanks to outgoing mayor Cllr Price.

Members will then be appointed to sub-committees, working groups and outside bodies.

Guidelines have been set out on how the meeting will be run with meetings governed by the usual standing orders, financial regulations and

associated policies.

All attendees will be set to ‘mute’ on entry to the meeting and only the chairman of the meeting will remain unmuted. All other participants if they wish to speak will be invited to unmute.

As the ‘host’, the clerk will have the ability to mute or remove anyone deemed a nuisance at the chairman of the meeting’s request.

Meeting participants may wish to protect their personal environment by choosing a virtual background in the Zoom Settings ‘Virtual Background’ or alternatively should consider what can be seen behind them while on camera.

All councillor attendees will display their name in order for the public to be able to identify them, just as they would at an in-person meeting.

There will be an opportunity for public and press participation but the clerk and chairman will have the right to mute or remove anyone causing a disturbance in the meeting.